MOSCOW, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Today marks the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks; solemn ceremonies were held across America to remember nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Sujo John, a survivor of those attacks, needs no reminders. He vividly remembers the events of the day that changed his life forever. He has shared his story of hope and faith from that day around the world.
Sujo and his wife Mary came to the US from Calcutta, India in February of 2001. By September 2001 both of them were working at the World Trade Center; Sujo worked on the 81st floor of One World Trade Center and Mary, who was pregnant with their first child, worked on the 71st floor of Two World Trade Center.
On the morning of September 11th, Sujo had commuted to work early. At about 8:45 a.m., he heard a loud explosion: the building shook and tilted. People started screaming. This was when American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles had crashed into the building. Debris from the plane flew into the office and everything started going up in flames. As Sujo and others in the building started to evacuate through the stairways, fire, smoke and flying debris were all around.
When he descended to the lowest level, he was surrounded with death and destruction. Sujo decided to look for Mary and started making his way to Tower 2.
As he approached the building, there was a massive explosion and the ground around him shook. All 110 stories of Tower 2 had collapsed as Sujo stood near the foot of the building.
Sujo tried to call Mary, but his cell phone still didn’t work. Finally, his cell phone rang and Mary told him that she was alive. Apparently, Mary had not made it to work: when her train had arrived at the World Trade Center subway stop five minutes after the first crash, she was not allowed into the building.
Sujo John found his calling and is now an international motivational speaker and the founder of Youcanfree.us, a movement to bring freedom to victims of human trafficking.
Sujo and Mary dedicated their lives to sharing their 9/11 survival story and preaching the Gospel full-time. Sujo has travelled to churches all across America and visits other nations on a weekly basis; in 2005, he launched an international evangelic ministry. His ministry has started a rehabilitation house in the red light district of New Delhi called the House of Rahab for women and girls attempting to escape the sex industry.
His story has been followed by media from all over the world. Sujo has shared his story with the BBC, Associated Press, The New York Times, The Times (UK), The National Post and a significant number of faith-based publications.
