Jan Demczur, a window cleaner trapped inside an elevator during the 9/11 terror attacks, has been reunited with two of the men whose lives he saved. John Paczkowski and George Pheonix were trapped with him as the towers began to collapse after two hijacked planes struck the New York City skyscrapers.
Trapped in a Falling Elevator
John and George worked on the 67th and 74th floors of the North Tower and both entered the same elevator on the same day. As the doors were closing, window cleaner Jan rushed in carrying a bucket and squeegee, which would later save them.
Inside the lift, they heard a bang and the elevator began to fall as a plane hit the tower. George recalled: "Everything was pretty calm initially, but then smoke started to come into the elevator."
The Squeegee Escape
The men managed to pry the door open and saw the number 50 chalked on the wall, realising they had fallen 15 floors. As panic set in, Jan took the squeegee from his pocket, removed the blade and began frantically pecking at the wall.
"It was a dangerous proposition because you didn't know if the elevator was going to stay where it was," John said. "We felt the impact on the South Tower while we were in the elevator, it shook the North Tower enough."
The men took turns trying to break down the wall. "We just stood there, astonished," George said. John added: "This gentleman who I would see on a daily basis, his demeanour was the calmest out of most of us, although I'm sure he was just as frightened as we were."
Jan eventually made a hole, and George began kicking, breaking the wall and allowing them to escape. They found firefighters at the stairwell and learned planes had crashed into the World Trade Centre.
Reunion 25 Years Later
"One of the things that still sticks in my mind is the concern on the firefighters faces as they walked past us," John said. "I'm sure that many of them who passed us didn't make it out. Their faces haunt me quite a bit."
The men, who escaped the North Tower five minutes before it collapsed, had not seen each other for 25 years. They all took part in the National Geographic documentary 9/11 Reunited.
"Without Jan, we wouldn't be talking right now," George said. "Three seconds could have changed everything."
Towards the end of the first episode, the three shared an emotional embrace as they reunited, with John telling Jan they 'wouldn't be here' if it wasn't for him.
