HUDSON, Ohio — Pat Nagle carried an American flag as he walked up and down the stadium stairs. Some firefighters, including Ben Stasik, wore full gear. Others, like Adam Bruderly, wore more comfortable clothes, but they were united as they climbed, remembering 9/11.
For Bruderly, a survivor of the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001, the annual 9/11 Stair Climb outside of Hudson High School was deeply personal.
Participants climbed the equivalent of 110 stories — the height of the Twin Towers — to honor all of the victims.
Bruderly was 22 years old and working at Morgan Stanley in the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. When a plane struck the North Tower first, Bruderly was among the thousands who suddenly had to evacuate the Twin Towers. As he walked down the stairs inside the building, he felt the moment the second plane hit.
"Around the 44th floor, you heard a big explosion or a boom. The building swayed and that's when the plane hit my building which was the South Tower at 9:03," Bruderly said.
Bruderly remembers the nerves and the fear, but said people walked out in an orderly manner. About 10 minutes after he made it outside, the South Tower collapsed — the first tower to come down.
"And I got probably about four blocks, and you heard what sounded like thunder, like a big rumbling and you turned around and the building I was in was coming down," Bruderly said.
Twenty-five years later, Bruderly joined the Hudson community on the stadium stairs, climbing alongside firefighters, residents and students to honor those who didn't survive.
Ben Stasik, a Hudson and Tallmadge firefighter, wore his full gear — just as the hundreds of firefighters who died trying to save others that day had worn theirs.
"They made it, they think, about 92 floors. They didn't make the full 110, so today we climb the full 110 to remember them giving their lives underneath those 110 floors," Stasik said.
For Pat Nagle, a father of four, the day is not only one of remembrance but also a time to answer questions his children might have.
"I think everybody can feel like that they can go back to that time, and whatnot, and I think going back in your mind really puts things like this into perspective," Nagle said.
Bruderly has carried a different perspective since 9/11. Now married with two kids, he focuses on not taking life for granted.
"It was a terrible moment for so many people, especially for those who didn't leave the building that day, but I try to look back on it and say, look, you gave me something, why not use it to kind of live the life that you want to live?" Bruderly said.
