Survivor of the September 11 terrorist attack who escaped from the North Tower recalls

WESTBURY, Nassau County (WABC) — The September 11 Memorial in Eisenhower Park on Long Island is a place of deep reflection.

That's where we found Scott Diamond.

“Suddenly I hear a hiss and an explosion,” he said.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Scott was sitting at his desk in the North Tower when the first plane hit the building.

“I see debris raining down and flames and smoke rising from the tower,” he said.

In all the years since the terrorist attack – he is now 23 – Scott has never attended the service in Lower Manhattan.

Like thousands of others who made it out alive, the psychological scars run deep.

Scott now belongs to a group he considers forgotten.

“I don't want to take anything away from the people who lost their lives or the first responders or these heroes, but we lived through this too,” he said.

Scott will never forget taking the elevators to the 44th floor of Tower 1, then climbing the endless stairs – and eventually hearing the announcement that the building was safe and everyone could return to their desks.

But Scott says he can't. Too many people have gone down.

Then, at 9:03 a.m., Scott says, “the building shook and the lights went out briefly. And the first thing that came to my mind was: I'm not going back to my desk.”

Scott made it, and on the ride home on the LIRR he was overcome with emotion.

“Concerns about the country, concerns about what my family knew or didn’t know,” he said.

Scott says he hopes no one will ever forget this cowardly, vicious attack – and remember how this country stuck together.

“You have to work to ensure that something like this never happens again,” he said.

MORE: Complete coverage of 9/11 commemoration

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