We All Fall Down: The True Story of the 9/11 Surfer

Pasquale Buzzelli, a structural engineer with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was in his office on the 64th floor of the North Tower when the 9/11 attacks began. He spoke to his pregnant wife several times on the phone before he began his evacuation after the South Tower fell. Sensing something ominous, Pasquale crouched down and huddled into a corner of the stairwell as the 110-story tower came crashing down around him. He survived the tower collapse and woke up in the open air hours later on "the pile," a stack of debris some 7 stories high. The firemen who rescued him shared his remarkable story of survival with the media, as did others who cared for him that day; however, dealing with PTSD and survivor's guilt and trying to move past it, Pasquale Buzzelli did not come forward at that time, and his captivating story, the tale of the "9/11 surfer" became a myth, an urban legend, and an enigma that gave rise to much speculation. Now, 11 years later, Pasquale Buzzelli recalls the events of 9/11/2001 in vivid detail of falling and "surfing" during the collapse of the North Tower.