Malverne Woman Opens Up About Her Harrowing 9/11 Ordeal

MALVERNE, NY — As we remember those lost in the 9/11 attacks 24 years ago, one Long Islander is beginning her cathartic process of the personal ordeal on that harrowing September day.

Shanna Sukhnanan, of Malverne, who was working for the Bank of New York in the vicinity of the Twin Towers, got to the area early that Tuesday morning to buy a birthday card.

She went to a Hallmark store in Tower 1, or the North Tower, concourse.

"All of a sudden, I heard people running, [and saying] 'A bomb went off,'" she said.

Sukhnanan dropped her cards as she joined others scurrying from the store and the building. When she got outside, people acted as good Samaritans to guide others in the best direction to go.

"It literally was like pitch dark, with stuff flying everywhere," she told Patch.

With her emotions on edge and near panic, Sukhnanan had no cell phone to contact her family. She cried and begged, to no avail, for the use of anyone's phone.

As she continued on the move toward Hudson Street, Sukhnanan approached a deli owner.

"Seeing how distraught I was, they finally let me use the phone," she recalled.

She spoke to her husband for the first time since the planes went into the World Trade Center. It was at the time that the second tower was struck.

"The phone went dead and the building shook," Sukhnanan, 27 at the time, said. "I was beside myself."

To help console Sukhnanan, she was brought to a woman's neighboring office.

"I literally saw both towers on fire," she said.

A short time later, Sukhnanan would resume walking toward the deli. However, the North Tower would collapse at 10:28 a.m.

"I was running from that smoke, not knowing I ran back right into that same building with so many other people," she said.

Sukhnanan was, in effect, stuck in the same place for several hours until she was rescued by the first responders.

"People were packed in that lobby," she said. "Everyone was just trying to help each other."

She recalls reaching a friend's Brooklyn home at around 3 p.m., having to walk over two bridges, before her husband picked her up.

Sukhnanan didn't go back to work and the city for a week.

"I was afraid to leave my house. I used to be afraid to turn out the lights in my house," she said.

In May, she began to relive and share the ordeal of that day and its aftermath by writing a series of Substack articles, although Sukhnanan admits it has been difficult reconnecting with her memories.

"I need to leave a legacy for my kids," she said. "This is what I have to do."

She has two daughters, 23 and 21.

Sukhnanan, who later found out she was pregnant on 9/11, is also considering publishing a memoir to commemorate the 25th anniversary. Thoughts of writing were accelerated after losing her job earlier this year.

For now, she's content to tell her story here and on Substack, which includes dealing with asthma and other 9/11-related health problems.

"I literally had to change my life 360 degrees," she said. "I'm juicing every morning. I'm gluten-free. I'm dairy-free. I don't eat any processed food. That's how I'm able to maintain being healthy."