The Finger of God

It was an ordinary morning for Stanley Praimnath, a church deacon, works for the Fuji Bank, who had offices between the 79th and 82nd floors of the World Trade Centre. Arriving at his desk on 11th September, he looked out of the window to see the other tower on fire. “I say to Delise, the temp, ‘Go, go, go – let’s get out!’” But when they and the other staff reached the ground floor, they were told by a guard “Oh! That was just an accident. World Trade Two is secured. Go back to your office.”

“All I can see is this big grey airliner, with red letters on the wing and on the tail, bearing down on me”

When he reached his office the phone was ringing. “It was someone from Chicago calling to find out if I’m watching the news,” he remembers. He told the caller that everything was “fine,” but as he spoke, he looked up and saw United Airlines Flight 175 heading straight for him. “All I can see is this big grey airliner, with red letters on the wing and on the tail, bearing down on me. It seemed to be happening in slow motion. The plane appeared to be 100 yards away. I said ‘Lord, you take control, I can’t help myself here’”. So he dived under his desk, the only shelter. As he curled up, the plane ripped into the side of the building and exploded.

Miraculously, Stanley was unhurt, but the plane’s wing was in flames and blocked his department’s doorway. He was trapped in debris that reached to his shoulders. He knew he had to get out – fast!

“Lord you take control, this is your problem now,” he prayed. “The good Lord gave me so much strength I was able to shake everything off,” he says, “I felt like the strongest man alive!”

“I felt as if a power came over me. I felt goose bumps all over my body and I was trembling”

The office resembled a battle zone – walls reduced to dusty heaps, and flames flickering among the rubble. “Everything I’m trying to climb over is collapsing and I’m falling down,” he says, “I’m getting cuts and bruises, but I’m saying, ‘Lord, I have to go home to my loved ones, I have to make it, and you have to help me!’”

Then, suddenly, he saw the light of a torch. “My gut reaction was, ‘This is my guardian angel! My Lord sent someone to help me!’” So, he began screaming, “I see the light! I see the light!” But after clawing his way through the rubble, he realised that he was still trapped. There was a wall between him and the staircase, and by this time he was having trouble breathing. He called out to the man on the other side of the wall, “There’s one thing I’ve got to know, do you know Jesus?” The man replied that he went to church. With time running out, Stanley didn’t pursue it further, but he prayed with the man that God would help them break through the wall. “I got up, and I felt as if a power came over me. I felt goose bumps all over my body and I was trembling. I said to the

It was as if my good Lord was holding up the building in the palms of his hands until we got to safety

wall, ‘You’re going to be no match for me and my Lord.’” Then he punched a hole in the wall, and with the help of the man on the other side, he was able to wriggle through the opening. “The guy hugged me and said, ‘From today, you’re my brother – for life!’”

But the danger was far from over. They still had 81 floors to walk down, with the building on fire, and in danger of collapse. “We hobbled our way down, stopping at each floor to see if anyone was there, but nobody was.” When they reached the ground floor, the only people they could see were fire-fighters. “They were telling us, ‘Run! Run! Run!’ – to get out. They were not concerned about themselves. But where could we run to? There was fire everywhere.” So they doused themselves under the building’s sprinklers and, holding each other’s hands, ran through the flames – all the way to safety at Trinity Church, about two blocks away. “I wanted to thank God,” Stanley explains, “As soon as I held on to the gate of that church, Tower Two collapsed! … It was as if my good Lord was holding up the building in the palms of his hands until we got to safety.”

Stanley praises God for sparing his life, and says that whatever he does, it will always be for God’s glory. “I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt,” he says,

“My Lord Jesus is bigger than the Trade Centre and his finger can push a plane aside!”

“that the good Lord’s mighty hand turned the plane a fraction from where I was standing. It was flying straight at me. When it hit, it was only six or seven metres away – but I survived! I don’t care what people say… I know it was the Lord who turned that plane. My Lord Jesus is bigger than the Trade Centre and his finger can push a plane aside!”