The evacuation chair moved differently on stairs than a conventional wheelchair.

On level ground, its small wheels carried it forward. On the steps, its rear tracks rested against the stair edges, allowing the handlers to guide the chair downward. The system reduced the need to lift the full weight continuously, but it did not turn 69 floors into an easy journey.

The stairwell narrowed the group into a line.

Unlike an open office, it offered little room to redistribute the team. The handlers had to fit themselves around the chair while other evacuees passed and emergency workers moved upward. A mistake could injure Abruzzo, a rescuer, or someone below them.

They descended past offices they might have visited on normal days and doors that now opened into damaged or abandoned spaces. Around them came the footsteps of evacuees and the upward movement of firefighters.

The scout ahead warned of heavy smoke around the 40th floor. The group crossed to another stairway.

That detail is important because it shows the evacuation was not simply vertical. Even below the impact zone, conditions changed from floor to floor. A route that appeared usable above could become dangerous below. The coworkers had to observe, communicate, and adjust while carrying a man whose safety depended on the group remaining coordinated.

By the time they reached roughly the 30th floor, firefighters were passing them on the way up.

Abruzzo later remembered the weight of the responders’ equipment and how tired they already appeared. The coworkers made room, then continued downward.

At about the 20th floor, they heard a tremendous rumble.

The South Tower had collapsed at 9:59 a.m.

The people inside the North Tower did not possess that explanation in the instant they heard it. They experienced the collapse as sound and vibration from somewhere outside their stairwell.

The historical timeline makes the danger clear. When the South Tower fell, the North Tower had less than half an hour remaining.

The collapse of the other tower also changed conditions across the site. Dust and debris swept through the complex. People inside the North Tower heard the event without necessarily knowing its cause, while responders in the lobby had to continue directing the evacuation.

The group still had approximately 20 floors to descend.

The pace and exact timing of every stage cannot be reconstructed to the minute from the available accounts. What can be established is that the coworkers kept Abruzzo moving after the rumble, continued to rotate handlers, and reached an area where emergency workers had established a temporary point of assistance.

Abruzzo’s rescue did not depend on one burst of strength. It depended on endurance after the initial urgency had become fatigue.

The physical effort accumulated.

Fatigue had operational consequences. Tired hands could lose control. Tired legs could stumble. Rotating the team was not simply a comfort; it was part of keeping the chair stable for a descent far longer than a routine demonstration.

Every landing required another turn. Every turn required the group to slow down, control the chair, and begin the next descent. The handlers’ arms and legs carried the strain while Abruzzo had to trust people he could not always see from the seat.

Later accounts often describe the chair as the hero object, and it deserves attention. It existed because the 1993 bombing had exposed an evacuation failure. It was light enough to move and designed for exactly this architectural problem.

But the chair did not unfold itself.

It did not transfer Abruzzo, check the smoke, negotiate the landings, or choose a second stairway.

Preparedness and human commitment worked together.

Without the equipment, the group might have faced the six-hour ordeal of 1993. Without the group, the equipment would have remained folded against a wall.

That combination is what gives the story its lasting value. It avoids the false choice between technology and human courage. Both were necessary, and neither guaranteed success alone.

Near the lower floors, firefighters and other emergency workers could see what the coworkers were doing. They understood the danger and the time required to move Abruzzo.

At a temporary aid point, the rescuers received a direct instruction.

They were told to leave John there and continue out.

The building was still standing.

The stairway below was still open.

The ten coworkers had a clear chance to save themselves more quickly.

Their answer was immediate.