Tax Lawyer Burned over Most of His Body on 9/11 Considers Himself Lucky
Cantor Fitzgerald tax lawyer Harry Waizer was in an elevator in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 when terrorists flew a plane into his building.
Waizer tells the New York Daily News that his life changed when the elevator plummeted and twice broke out in flames, burning Waizer over most of his body. Waizer and another woman escaped when the elevator doors opened on the 78th floor, allowing them to climb down the stairs to safety.
Waizer was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma. He didn’t learn until October about the terrorist attacks and the deaths of most of his co-workers. He still has back pain and nerve damage, and lacks strength in his left hand.
But Waizer told the Daily News he feels fortunate. “I was seconds away from joining my friends on the 104th floor, and those seconds were the difference between my survival and my death,” Waizer said. “Yes, I feel lucky.”
