Linda Irizarry narrowly missed being in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when a plane struck it on Sept. 11, 2001 – all due to a spilled glass of milk and a missed bus.
Irizarry, who now lives in Delaware and is a graduate student at the University of Delaware, was living in Staten Island at the time. With her young daughter in tow, she was getting ready to catch a bus into Manhattan for a meeting at a Department of Labor office on the 33rd floor of the World Trade Center.
Her daughter spilled chocolate milk on herself, so they had to go home to change her clothes. Irizarry took a later bus, and when she arrived in Manhattan, the air was filled with smoke from the South Tower.
Irizarry walked toward the North Tower, still intending to keep her meeting, when she saw the second plane hit.
She was stuck in Manhattan until late that night, when a kind firefighter taking a break from working at Ground Zero agreed to driver her home.