If I’d gone back up to my office, I’d be dead
It was a split-second decision in the lift of one of New York’s Twin Towers that saved Andrew Cullen’s life.
As others tried to make it go back up to their offices, he frantically pressed the down button.
Had the elevator gone up, Motherwellborn Andrew would be dead – as the second 9/11 plane struck above them only moments later.
As the 20th anniversary of September 11 approaches and the war on terror unravels in Afghanistan, the Twin Towers survivor told of his heartbreak and hopelessness amid the current chaos.
From his home in South Carolina, Andrew, 51, has watched the horrifying images emerge from the Allied forces’ withdrawal with even more loss of life.
The former New York broker – now a history and economics teacher – said: “At the moment I am teaching a class of seniors who are studying economics.
“They were all born after 9/11, but want to know my story. I’m happy to share it, as it’s an important part of everyone’s history.
“What is happening just now in Afghanistan is part of history too and, without getting into the politics of it all, it is a great humanitarian tragedy.”
Andrew, who continues to make regular trips back home to North Lanarkshire, told how the events of that day – when 2996 people, including 67 Brits, died – changed his life forever.
The terror attack claimed the lives of colleagues at the finance firm he worked including fellow Scot, Derek Sword from Dundee.
Andrew was 10 when he moved to the US after his dad got a job in Pittsburgh.
He was 25 when he moved to Manhattan to work as a fixed incomes analyst at investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods on the 89th floor of the South Tower.
It was there in 1999 he met Derek and the two forged a firm friendship.
The last time Andrew saw Derek was in the office on the morning of the attacks.
He said: “I remember going into the office really early that morning as I was working on an important transaction.
“Over time, other traders were filtering in then, all of a sudden, I heard an enormous, thundering explosion.
“I looked out the window and could see debris coming out of the North Tower.
“I didn’t know what had just happened, but it was enough to shake me up and make me think I wanted to get out.
“I started heading towards the exit of my office and remember seeing Derek along with other equity colleagues. That was the last time I saw him.
“After that, four of us made the decision to leave, walking towards the stairwell and descending the stairs.
“When we got to the 44th floor, which contained a sky lobby, I just remember being pushed into the elevator by the Port Authority, who controlled the building.
“They tried to hit the button to send us back up to the office, but I hit the button to go down and, just at that moment, the plane hit our tower and I was blasted out of the lift. If the lift had gone up, I would have been killed.” After 9/11 and as a tribute to
Derek, Andrew stepped into the position his friend had formerly held as a broker working with the firm’s European clients.
He played a key role rebuilding the company until 2012 when he left New York to become a teacher.
He now lives in sleepy Charleston, South Carolina, where the pace of life is somewhat different to Manhattan. A keen outdoor adventurer, he said: “A lot of people ask me how I coped after 9/11 and I never know what the answer is.
“Surviving such a disaster changes your perspective and forces you to live in the moment a bit more, get out of your shell and stop putting things off.”