9/11 survivor living in North Texas shares her story publicly for the first time

PLANO, Texas - A 9/11 survivor and Medical City Plano employee shared the story of what happened to her on that day publicly for the first time on Wednesday.

Linda Randazzo was working for an insurance company at the World Trade Center when the attack happened.

She said she was searching for a co-worker after the alarms sounded, so she used a different stairwell than everyone else to evacuate her building.

“If I went down the main stairway, I would've been in the lobby of the Trade Center, and most of the people in the lobby either were seriously hurt or didn't make it out at all, so we might not be having this conversation," she said.

Randazzo said the horrors she saw that day are branded into her memory, and praises the bravery of the first responders.

“As we were funneling down the steps, the firefighters are coming up, and I won't forget their faces ever,” she said. ”In my heart, it's like they knew they were going up and they weren't coming down.”

Randazzo said she’s been unable to talk about her experience until now because of the emotional trauma of the day.

She's hoping that sharing the story now will honor 9/11 victims and give encouragement and inspiration to others.