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Susan Wood ReportingA Utah man was inside one of the Twin Towers when it collapsed, and fortunately, he's still here today to tell his story. He is perhaps the only Utahn to have been inside the world trade center when the towers were hit. An early morning appetite may have saved his life.
As Taps evokes the somber memories of the thousands who lost their lives on 9/11; one man here today is very lucky he wasn't one of them. Matt Hufford is a financial planner who was in New York two years ago today.
He was in a meeting on the 61st floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center, but at about 8:40 he left a meeting, and took an elevator downstairs to grab a bagel.
Matt Hufford, Survived World Trade Center Attack: "Went down about 20 floors to get something to eat and that's when it all started, and that's when the first plane hit the north tower. That's when I started my exodus down the stairs and luckily made it out."
At first he thought a bomb had gone off. Through the windows he noticed debris falling around him. Then, sixteen minutes later, the second plane hit. Hufford says the building collapsed around him as he ran down the stairs to escape the carnage, papers, pieces of building, airplane parts and bodies. When he finally made it to safety, he looked through the window of a building nearby to see the south tower collapse.
Hufford likely escaped death by about six minutes that day, and he's especially grateful he made it home to see his wife and children again.
Matt Hufford: "I’m just very thankful that I’m standing right here in front of these flags. And I’m very thankful that I have my family, and I’m thankful they have me. And I guess I take each day with a lot more gratitude that I’m around."
Hufford says he's often asked to tell his story about the events that day and he doesn't mind. He says he hopes it teaches others a message, that you never know which day is going to be your last so you'd better make every minute count.
