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Graduate recalls narrow escape from Trade Center
By David Irvine
Old Gold and Black Reporter

When Chris Young, ’90, performed in a university production of Man of La Mancha, he could never have guessed the circumstances under which he would be recalling the songs from that very production more than ten years later.

Young was in the World Trade Center’s north tower when it was struck by an airplane the morning of Sept. 11, and was able to escape only minutes before the building collapsed. While trapped in an express elevator, Young found himself singing and humming show tunes learned in the university’s theater and music departments.

"I began acting in the theatre department at Wake almost as soon as I arrived on campus," Young said. "By the second show of the season I ended up with a major role and I was hooked from then on."

"Most of my friends were made in the theatre department," he said. "It was a very close- knit group that provided lots of opportunity to explore all aspects of the theater." One member of that group was Brook Davis, ’90, who is currently a professor in the theater department.

"He was terrific," Davis said of her classmate. "We were both theater majors while we were here. There was a big group of us who hung out in the theater department. We all called (Young) Mr. Comedy."

Last September, Young was working in New York City as an actor and singer, as well as an administrative assistant for Marsh & McLennan insurance company. "At the time I was opening an independent film. In fact Sept. 10 was the premiere," Young said.

He had to get up early the next morning to attend a meeting with his boss in the Marsh & McLennan offices on the 99th floor of the north tower. "It was actually the first time that I had gone to the Marsh offices at the World Trade Center," he said. "I had worked previously as a temp for another company in the towers so I was familiar with them."

After setting up his boss’ PowerPoint presentation, Young began to leave the building via a large express elevator, which descends 1,000 feet in only 60 seconds. He sang "I, Don Quixote," from Man of La Mancha, to himself as the elevator neared the lobby. But then, at 8:46 a.m., the hijacked aircraft crashed into the tower, bringing the elevator to a halt and trapping Young inside it. A digital indicator told Young that he had in fact reached the lobby. After ringing the alarm bell he was able to speak with a voice on the outside of the doors, which assured him that help was on the way. As he waited, Young also made contact with others trapped in an adjacent elevator by shouting through the walls.

After waiting for nearly an hour, another voice came over the intercom to notify Young that firefighters were working to free him. He was told not to try to get out himself. Moments later, as the south tower collapsed, a loud rumble shook the elevator and yellow dust rushed into the compartment.

"I was not really sure why the songs popped into my mind as I was descending in the elevator. I was just being silly," he said. "But when I sang and hummed them later it was definitely to occupy my mind and to give me courage. Thoughts of the production were definitely in my mind as well. I went through monologues from that show and several others."

About 20 minutes later the electricity went out. With no power reaching the elevator’s motor, the doors opened easily when Young pushed the alarm button. He exited into the lobby, found the nearby elevator empty and quickly rushed out of the building.

"I spent about 100 minutes in the elevator and got out less than two minutes before the building came down," Young said. "I was just beyond the corner of West and Vesey when the north tower started to collapse — a little more than a block away."

Teresa Radomski, a professor of music, gave Young voice lessons and worked with him in several productions during his days as an undergraduate. "He was a very enterprising and well respected student in the theatre department," she said. Radomski noted that she was particularly struck that her former student sang songs from Man of La Mancha throughout his ordeal. "He said that he didn’t know why those songs were on his mind, but they were. They were some of his favorite songs." Davis shared many of the same sentiments concerning Young’s song selections. "It was very touching that that’s what he chose to comfort himself," she said.

Young explained that while returning to life as normal has been a difficult task, he has come a long way. "Over the past year I’ve tried to get back into acting. I spent time with my family in North Carolina immediately afterwards but I came back to New York City in less than a month," he said.

"I was very determined that I would still be able to do what I wanted to do in this life and I felt it was important for me to be back in New York. I feel both great strength and weakness from the events," he said. "I freed myself from an almost impossible situation but I was also thrown into a situation that was beyond my control and could have easily turned out very differently.

"I was obviously very fortunate that day and in many ways I have been fortunate since. The outpouring of love from family and friends has been overwhelming at times."