MAN IN FAMED PIX DIES

Fled 9/11 terror attack, falls to COVID in Fla. at age 78

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A man photographed fleeing smoke and debris as the south tower of the World Trade Center crumbled just a block away on Sept. 11, 2001, has died from coronavirus, his family said.

The Palm Beach Post reported that Stephen Cooper, an electrical engineer from New York who lived parttime in the Delray Beach, Florida area, died March 28 at Delray Medical Center due to COVID-19. He was 78.

The photo, captured by an Associated Press photographer, was published in newspapers and magazines around the world and is featured at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

“He didn't even know the photograph was taken,” said Janet Rashes, Cooper's partner for 33 years. “All of a sudden, he's looking in Time magazine one day and he sees himself and says, ‘Oh my God. That's me.' He was amazed. Couldn't believe it.”

Rashes said Cooper was delivering documents near the World Trade Center, unaware of exactly what had happened that morning, when he heard a police officer yell, “You have to run.”

The photo shows Cooper, who was 60 at the time, with a manila envelope tucked under his left arm. He and several other men were in a desperate sprint as a wall of debris from the collapsing tower looms behind them.

Cooper ducked to safety into a nearby subway station.

“Every year on 9/11, he would go looking for the magazine and say, ‘Look, it's here again,” said Jessica Rashes, Cooper's 27-yearold daughter. “He would bring it to family barbecues, parties, anywhere he could show it off.”

Joey Chestnut (left) and Miki Sudo (above) defended their titles at the Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest Saturday with record performances. The event was held at an undisclosed location in Coney Island without fans.

AP Stephen Cooper (far left) had no idea what had happened, but was told by cops to run from World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. He died March 8 in Florida.