He began calling coworkers over the phone. When he was unable to reach anyone, he instructed colleagues to evacuate. But as soon he and his friends had escaped to the lobby, security guards ordered them to go back up the elevator, as the building was believed to be safe.
No sooner had Praimnath returned to his office then he looked up to see the second plane coming towards his building. He dove under his desk and called out to God. As the plane struck his tower, its bottom wing took out the building’s 79th floor. Its top wing laid waste to the 82nd floor. Those employees of Fuji Banks who survived the initial crash now found themselves trapped at the center of the destruction.
“A large chunk of the plane is stuck in my office doorway, twenty feet from where I am,” Praimnath said, “and the only desk that stood firm is the one that I’m hiding under.”
Flames were quickly encroaching, the floors were already shaking, and Praimnath was certain that he was about to die. It was in that moment that Praimnath, a devout and outspoken Christian, called out to God for rescue.
“I’m screaming, ‘Lord, I don’t want to die. Please send somebody, anybody, to help me,’” Praimnath recalled. “As soon as I said that, someone on the other end of the floor had a flashlight.”
Praimnath crawled across the length of the floor, only to discover that he was trapped in his office. An unseen co-worker encouraged Praimnath as he punched his way through the wall. Once free, Praimnath remembers being overwhelmed with gratitude, embracing the stranger, while debris still floated in the air around them. The man introduced himself as Bryan and took Praimnath’s hand, which had been impaled by a wood screw.
“He said, ‘All my life I’ve lived as an only child. I always wanted a brother, and I find that man today,’” Praimnath recounted.
Together the two men began hobbling their way down the 81 floors of the building. Praimnath remembers making it to the ground floor and passing heroic first responders, who, despite the obvious danger, were on their way into the same nightmare Praimnath and his companion had just escaped.
In the aftermath of the attack, Praimnath’s company offered all its employees free counseling. He recalled sharing his experience during his first session only to find his counselor reduced to tears.
“So I decided to tell her about the grace of God, and she accepted the Lord,” Praimnath said. “After that, witnessing became very easy, and I knew what my purpose was."
