‘That day changed my brother for life’

On that horrific day, I received a call from a friend of mine in hysterics, telling me to call my brother, Chris, and my father, Ted, immediately.

She told me a plane had crashed into one of the towers in New York. I instructed one of my students to retrieve a TV, and as soon as I turned it on, we witnessed the second plane crash into the tower. Both my brother and father worked for Merrill Lynch at the time and were in the second tower. I grabbed my phone and called my brother, the phone rang several times before I heard a hello. Chris ran back to the phone thinking it was his wife as he was trying to run out. I told him I loved him and to run faster than he ever has, to get out.

I then tried to reach my father and it continued to go to voicemail. My fear set in that maybe he had not been able to get out. Three hours had passed and my mother called to inform me that my father was able to make it to the island and was OK. So, I sat waiting to hear from my brother and it wasn’t until five hours later that he called me from a phone he had borrowed. He was very shaken, telling me he had to duck while fleeing because bodies were dropping from the sky.

After a couple of months, my sister-in-law found Chris in the middle of the night staring out the window crying. He told her that he was watching for planes, that he had to protect her and the kids. That they were coming.

That day changed my brother for life.

Lisa Hyzy

San Marcos