Greg Manning

Most of the forty thousand people who worked at the World Trade Center made it out alive with few or only minor injuries. A small percentage, however, suffered severe burns from the fireball that followed the explosion of jet fuel and combustibles in the buildings. In the following essay, Greg Manning talks about the injuries his wife, Lauren, a senior vice president and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, suffered from the crash.

Lauren Manning was just entering the lobby of Tower One when the plane crashed into the building. A fireball shot down and out of the elevator shaft and engulfed Lauren. Lauren ran from the building into the street, where two passersby helped put out the flames. One of the strangers went with her to the hospital and called Greg to tell him what happened to...