Twenty-three years after the World Trade Center fell after the infamous 9/11 attack, survivors are still recalling their stories of tragedy and hope. Michael Hingson’s story of survival is not only amazing because he was able to flee the 78th floor of the North Tower before it collapsed, but because he also did so despite being completely blind. Hingson was born blind and worked as a computer hardware sales manager and had been recruited in 1999 to open an office on the 78th floor. The day had started like any other. “We were going to be doing some sales training that day,” he told Fox New Digital. “I was in my office. A colleague, David Frank, was also with me. He was from our corporate office. The two of us were going to be doing these sales seminars.”

At 8:46 am, Islamic terrorists who had hijacked American Airlines flight 11 struck the North Tower, decimating floors 93 through 99. At first, Hingson and Frank had no idea what had happened, other than that the building began to sway. “We actually moved maybe about 20 feet. David and I actually said ‘Goodbye’ to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78-floor plunge to the street. But then the building stopped flexing, and it came back and became vertical,” he recalled. Hingson was able to retrieve his guide dog, Roselle, from his office. Prior to the attack, Hingson had familiarized himself with the building so that he could guide himself and his others out of the building in case of an emergency. “So, I learned how to travel around the World Trade Center. I learned where the restaurants were … I needed to know what to do in the case of an emergency. I needed to know all the emergency exits,” he told CBN. The preparation helped him to prepare Roselle and teach her the cues she would need to know how to help him through the building. Roselle’s calm attitude helped Hingson to lead the way down the stairs. “She was exhibiting no fear at all, which told me that whatever was occurring wasn’t such an imminent threat that we couldn’t try to evacuate in an orderly way and that we didn’t need to panic,” he said. Meanwhile, the chaos continued outside, with the South Tower being struck by hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 at 9:03 am. It would collapse at 9:49, almost exactly an hour after the North Tower was struck.

It took Hingson and Roselle one hour to make it to the bottom of the North tower. Even then, they had to face the very real danger of the building collapsing, along with the South Tower collapsing. “I thought ‘God, I can’t believe you got us out of a building just to have it fall on us.’ I heard in my head as clearly as you hear me now a voice that said, ‘Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Focus on running with Roselle and the rest will take care of itself.’” Hingson later asked himself, “Was that God talking to me?” Which he firmly believes. “Absolutely, it was. I have no doubt about that, but the issue is: I listened.”

As America reeled from the tragedy, Hingson and Roselle’s story soon become a focal point of positivity in a country desperately in need of it. “I was taking calls from Larry King, from Regis and Kelly, and from Bryant Gumbel. They were looking for something positive that came out of the tragedy,” he told The American Kennel Club last year. Roselle received the Award for Canine Excellence (ACE) in the service dog category in 2002. She lived to be 14 years old and passed in 2011. Hingson went on to work for Guide Dogs for the Blind and wrote several books about his experience. He just released a new book, Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs about Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith.