Photo: Danny Caiazzo | By Wendy Grossman Kantor, People / AOL | “Things changed so quickly for so many people that day,” says Danny Caiazzo, who shares his story so other survivors will know they’re not alone. Danny Caiazzo was a 23-year-old bond trader working on the 55th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. That morning, he carried his boss down 55 flights of stairs and then urged coworkers to ignore announcements that it was safe to return to their office. Moments later, the building collapsed.
“I wished that I would’ve been able to save more people that day,” Caiazzo, now 45, tells PEOPLE on the 22-year anniversary of the day that changed his life.
Caiazzo, who was diagnosed with PTSD shortly after 9/11, urges others to talk about their feelings —and to spend time doing what they love with those they love.
“You have to make the most of the time that you have with the people that you care about because you never know how quickly things can change. Things changed so quickly for so many people that day,” he says. “I really did see the terribleness, but also the best part of humanity that day.”
At the office that morning, Caiazzo asked a coworker to go downstairs and grab breakfast, like they did most days.
“As soon as he said, ‘Let me get off this phone call,’ the first tower got hit,” Caiazzo remembers. “My entire building shook. We all knew something wasn’t right.”
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“I had to change my perspective,” he says. “I realized that I was 23 years old and I actually saved a handful of people besides my boss who I carried down, I was responsible for the people leaving who didn’t want to. Once I changed my perspective — which was a big thing for me — it turned some of the negative feelings to positive.”
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Go here to read the rest of Danny’s life-changing story and what he did to move on:
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Photo: Danny Caiazzo | Courtesy of Danny Caiazzo
After 9/11, Survivor Quit Wall Street Job to Do What He Loves: ‘Make the Most with the Time That You Have’
