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CNN Saturday Morning News

Couple's Tale of WTC Attacks

Aired September 07, 2002 - 07:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Pasquale Buzzelli was on his job as a Port Authority Project Engineer when the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He and several others were in stairwell B when the tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m.
Now Buzzelli's then-pregnant wife Louise was certain that he had been killed, and so he called her on an ambulance cell phone more than five hours later, a grueling five hours we're sure. Now, she's written a song, it's called "Hope," to benefit expectant mothers who lost their husbands on 9/11.

And joining us from New York are Pasquale and Louise Buzzelli -- thank you both for being with us this morning.

LOUISE BUZZELLI: Hi, good morning.

PASQUALE BUZZELLI: Good morning.

CALLAWAY: Good morning to you.

Pasquale I know that you have not spoken of what you went through. You've been quiet about it, but now that your wife has written this beautiful song, you want to share your story with others. We understand that you were able to talk to her a couple of times before the tower that you were in collapsed. Is that right?

PASQUALE BUZZELI: Yes, that's correct. I initially called her right when I got to the 64th floor and then afterwards I called her probably about closer to 10:00. About a quarter to ten, before all of us started our descent down stairway B of World Trade Center.

CALLAWAY: Pasquale can you tell us what happened? And I understand that this is painful for you to talk about, but can you tell us what happened from that moment when you began your descent down the tower?

PASQUALE BUZZELLI: Yes, basically, it was a little after 10:00. We started our descent. We made it down to probably in the mid-40s when we encountered some firemen. They were just exhausted from battling.

We continued on, they said it's a straight line, just keep going down the stairs; it's a straight line. We got down to about the 30s, encountered some more firemen. They just said keep going.

Finally, when we got to the 22nd floor, I just heard a tremendous pounding and the building started to shake, violently. In a split second, I just dove right into the corner of one of the landings in the stairwell. And, basically I just curled up in a fetal position and started praying. And I thought about my wife was home, 7 1/2 months pregnant.

And at first, actually, I thought it was just something massive tumbling through the stairs or a partial collapse of the building. It wasn't until I felt the walls crack and the floor below me give way that I knew it was just a total collapse, the building was going. That started on the 22nd floor.

Basically, I said my goodbyes at that time. I said, please, God, make it quick. Take care of my family. And then I just felt myself tumbling, free falling. I was getting hit in the head, I saw flashes of light. And then one final blow, just saw one large flash. And at that point, I opened my eyes again and just looked up and just saw blue sky. You know, partial clearing of the debris and the smoke. First I thought I was dead. I didn't feel anything. And then I started to feel pain in my leg. I started to cough. And I said, you know, my God, I actually survived this.

I started calling out for the people that were with me, started calling out for help. About an hour later, I finally heard some voices. There were some firemen searching the rubble. They were searching for the other firemen that were -- later on I found out were in Stairway B, below me. I had actually fallen and tumbled with the building from the 22nd floor to about the fourth level of the building and landed, basically, on top of where those other firemen and a lady were found. I called out to them.

It took some time for them to get to me, they were rescuing, I guess, the others and also there was a fire erupting and so I wasn't out of the woods yet. And then basically they got to me; they just went into action, which was just amazing. You know, I thank them every day. You know, in my prayers.

CALLAWAY: I want to go to you, Louise, if we can, because I want everyone to know that you had talked with your husband after that second plane hit. He said I'm trying to get out of the building, we're getting out now, and that was the last time you heard from him and then you saw the building collapse. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you.

LOUISE BUZZELLI: Yeah, it was just -- well, he had woke me up out of my sleep and said that something's wrong with our building, you know, but don't worry I'm OK, I'm on the phone with you, so you know don't worry. And, I turned the TV on, I saw the building on fire, and I just questioned him as to why were you calling me if you can really get out of there.

And then we spoke again one more time right after the second plane hit. And at that point he had promised that he was really leaving to go down the stairs. So, it was -- I would guess about 20 minutes or so before is when I spoke to him and at that point the building collapsed.

CALLAWAY: And at that moment you must have really thought that he had not made it.

LOUISE BUZZELLI: No, I knew that he was still on 64, on the 64th floor, and for him to get down those stairs in that amount of time, there was really no way that he could have gotten down, especially since he was going with 15 people together.

CALLAWAY: So, for five hours you believed, you just assumed, the worst. I'm sure everyone was consoling you, coming to your home, and then you got the phone call. Tell me about that.

LOUISE BUZZELLI: Well, we had friends just that came pouring over, family. And it was just a nightmare that day that I thought I would never, ever awake from. And, at 3:30 that afternoon, the phone rang and it was Pasquale. And, I had answered it at that time and I remember he said, "Louise, it's me, I'm alive, I'm alive." And I said, "Pasquale, you're alive."

And, you know, everyone in the house just kind of -- the whole house was in an uproar and we were screaming and just -- you know -- tears of joy just to hear his voice and you know, he said, 'I don't know how I'm a live but I am." And, you know, the firemen that rescued me, they don't get paid enough for what they do.

CALLAWAY: Right. And you were pregnant. You were reunited with your husband. You gave birth to a beautiful child. And you named her Hope, is that right?

LOUISE BUZZELLI: Yes, her name is Hope Olivia. She was born in November. And, you know, it's been a miracle that we've got Pasquale here and he's able to witness the birth of our baby girl.

CALLAWAY: Now, Pasquale, I know that as I said at the beginning of this interview, that you really didn't want to talk about this because I know there's something that we've heard from a lot of people who have made it through situations like this. Survival guilt, and it was an emotional journey for you. But, your wife sat down at the piano one day and wrote a song for all the other women who were in her position, pregnant, who lost their husband in this tragedy and you were moved beyond belief, weren't you?

PASQUALE BUZZELLI: Yes, I was. It's just a beautiful song that she wrote. And, when others -- other friends and relatives heard it, they equally liked it. It just brought tears and we thought that you know, maybe, we could do something with this, start up a Song for Hope Foundation. We recorded the song, it's a beautiful song, we'll try and sell it. To try to raise money for those mothers, the mothers who were expecting children that day. Who were expecting, who lost their husbands and weren't as fortunate. I mean, we can't help them enough. And, you know we hope that people could visit our web site, it's available at songforhope.com.

CALLAWAY: Louise, I know this is your message to all the other moms out there who went through what you went through for those terrible five hours. But, unfortunately did not have the same phone call that you received that day. That your husband was indeed alive. We want to thank you both for being with us, this morning, and sharing your story with us. Pasquale thank you for opening up with us this morning. Pasquale Buzzelli and Louise Buzzelli we're going to close out with your song.

LOUISE BUZZELLI: Thank you so much. And, if I could just say something to those women. You know, I give them my heart. You know, for just going on in their lives. Without their husbands. And I want them to know that this is for them. So, I just -- you know, we think about them every day and God bless them.

CALLAWAY: Thank you Louise and Pasquale.

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