Rocky road to recovery: Pasquale Buzzelli, pictured with wife Louise, escaped with a fractured foot but it was the mental scars that were harder to heal
But, as a special report by New York magazine revealed, surviving was only the start of their struggle.
As one survivor's wife put it: 'Everyone else feels like 9/11 was a long time ago. I still feel like we are stuck on September 12, not really able to move beyond it.'
Pasquale Buzzelli, a 34 year old structural engineer, had an office on the 64th floor of the North Tower.
At about 10am on September 11, 2001, he phoned his wife for the second time that morning.
'Don't worry,' he said. She was seven months pregnant and at their home in Rivervale, New Jersey.
She'd been watching on the giant TV in their family room after his first phone call.
He told her that he and some other workers were about to head down Stairwell B.
Buzzelli picked up his briefcase and left.
Stepping into hell: Workers in the North Tower are pictured evacuating down Stairwell B
It was slow going on pandora charms on sale the narrow stairs that were clogged with people.
As he reached the 22nd floor, the building shook, the stairs started moving and heavy objects were dropping above his head. The sound got louder and closer.
Suddenly, the walls seemed to separate and move away from him.
He regained consciousness two hours later on a slab of concrete 180ft below the pandora jewelry outlet 22nd floor. His bag was nowhere to be found. The air was full of smoke and dust and explosions could be heard.