9/11 Survivor’s Heartbreaking Farewell to Newborn Moments Before North Tower Collapse Reveals Untold Courage and Despair
Warning: This story isn’t for the faint of heart. Imagine getting a call from a buddy in the fire department, telling you a plane hit the World Trade Centre—and thinking it’s all just a prank. That’s exactly what happened to Bill Spade, a retired FDNY first responder from Staten Island’s Rescue Company 5. But this wasn’t a joke—it was the start of a day that would forever change his life and echo through the annals of modern US history. On a bright September morning in 2001, as New Yorkers went about their routines, the unthinkable struck. Bill rushed into the chaos, risking everything amidst falling debris and a collapsing skyline. What does it mean to stare death in the face and still find the strength to carry on? And how does one live after saying goodbye to loved ones, unsure if they’ll ever see them again? Twenty-five years later, Bill’s harrowing tale reminds us that courage comes in many forms—and sometimes, survival is just the beginning of the story.
Warning: This article contains details which some readers may find distressing.
When Bill Spade received a phone call from an off-duty firefighter telling him that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre, he first thought it was a ‘practical joke’.
“In the fire department sometimes we do a lot of practical jokes,” the retired FDNY first responder from Staten Island’s Rescue Company 5 recalled. “I thought he was fooling around.”
It would soon become clear that Bill’s life was about to be changed forever as he witnessed one of the most defining moments in modern US history.
For the millions of inhabitants of New York, Tuesday, 11th September, began like any other normal weekday.
The weather was bright and clear, allowing a perfect view of the iconic NYC skyline for everyone making their way to work.
Bill Spade (centre right) with Rescue Company 5 (Bill Spade)
At 8:46am, the first plane would collide with the World Trade Centre’s North Tower, killing everyone on board and trapping everyone above the building’s 91st floor.
Just over 15 minutes after the attack, a second aircraft crashes into the South Tower, removing any doubt that the events were an accident.
Over an hour later, both towers would collapse, claiming the lives of nearly 3,000 people as well as injuring many more. Meanwhile, millions of others, both civilians and army personnel, have died in the resulting War on Terror.
25 years on from the tragedy, Bill has recounted his harrowing experience of that fateful day in National Geographic’s documentary 9/11 Reunited.
“Going into the building was taking your life into your hands.”
As the attacks unfolded, all emergency services personnel were rerouted to the World Trade Centre, with Bill’s crew arriving at the North Tower before the second collision.
As Rescue Company 5 approached the World Trade Centre complex the immediate devastation was evident, with Bill recalling seeing debris and bodies crashing to the ground in front of their truck.
“Everything [was] falling from above, bodies as well as part of the structure coming crashing down,” he explained in an interview with LADbible.
“Going into the building was taking your life into your hands.”
Despite the obvious dangers, Bill rushed into the North Tower alongside countless other first responders. He was inside the North Tower stairwell when the South Tower fell, likening the sound of the collapse to ‘eight subway cars coming into the station at once’.
Bill continued evacuating people from the building, but it soon became very clear that everyone inside the tower was in serious danger.
“I don’t remember the exact time, but everything went quiet,” Bill said. “It was eerie. Someone said, ‘I think we need to get out of this building right now’ I pointed back to him and said, ‘I think you’re right’.”
Bill Spade recounted his experience of 9/11 for National Geopgraphic’s new documentary (National Geographic/Harrison Cooney)
His crew, assisted by several police officers, had finished their evacuation with just 30 seconds to spare before Bill heard the same crashing noise once again.
“I just heard a loud noise, something crashing down above us,” he added.
“I said goodbye to my wife and I said goodbye to my two boys.”
What happened next was somewhat of a blur for Bill, as the impact of the collapse sent him flying 40 feet into a nearby wall.
He then climbed through a nearby window and took cover underneath a desk. Believing he wouldn’t survive the aftermath, Bill made a series of heartbreaking goodbyes to his family as he took shelter.
“I said goodbye to my wife and I said goodbye to my two boys. And when I said goodbye to my son, John, I remember saying he was only two months old at the time and said, ‘You’ll never know your dad’.
“That was the worst part of the whole day.”
Bill would be the only survivor from Rescue Company 5 that day, and although he was fortunate to be alive, the atrocity would have profound effects on his health.
After being buried under ‘pulverised’ debris, Bill, like many of the other 9/11 survivors, experienced difficulties with his breathing.
Bill’s story is intertwined with that of John D’Allara, an NYPD officer who died during the collapse of the towers (National Geographic/Virginia Sherwood)
Bill now gives talks to students at the 911 Memorial Museum (National Geographic/Virginia Sherwood)
Two years after the attacks, he suffered from collapsed lungs and still struggles to breathe in the winter months. He’s also undergone surgeries to his knee and shoulder.
The scars weren’t just physical either, as the burden of being the only survivor from his team had a profound impact on his mental health.
Recalling the moment he realised he needed help, Bill explained that he’d snapped at his two-month-old son’s crying. “My son, John, was crying one day and I had him, and I said, ‘He’s crying because of a dirty diaper, and there’s 30 kids in my firehouse now without a father’,” he explained.
“I was mad at him for that, and that’s when I knew I needed counselling to get things straight.”
9/11 REUNITED is available to stream on Disney+ and will air on National Geographic on Friday 11 September from 8pm.
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