Considering I consume sports stories like oxygen, it's baffling to me that I hadn't seen this story until it was shared by someone on my Facebook timeline this morning. I also realize this blog might have been more pertinent yesterday as we remembered the tragic events of 18 years ago, but there's probably never a bad time to reflect on a story as heroic as this one.
And stories like these are the stories that I take the most from when I spend time remembering the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93. The stories of selflessness, the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This man, Welles Crowther, was for all intents and purposes, and regular guy working a regular job that morning. But when confronted with astounding fear, carnage, and death, he rose to the occasion. He easily could have vacated the South Tower once he has escorted those people down the only operational stairwell. He was already a hero for that alone. But he decided that wasn't enough, and knowingly sacrificed his own life to safe 12 other people. People that don't make it without him. I think we'd all like to believe we'd be able to do that same thing, if confronted with that situation. But the truth is, I don't know. In those scenario's, it takes a special person to do what he did, and that's what Welles Crowther was, a special person, a hero. I'm glad I got to see his story.
PS: I saw this shared on Twitter last night;
I don't think I have to qualify this by saying that nobody ever wants to see a tragedy like September 11th take place again, but I also think a lot of people miss the sense of unity and togetherness we all had in the days/weeks/months after it took place. I'll never forget that shared feeling, as we all experienced the same range of emotions together.
