Gayle King Talks to a 9/11 Survivor Who, 25 Years Later, Still Works at the World Trade Center.

This September is a special one for New Yorkers and Americans alike. We’re commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, grieving who and what we lost, and celebrating how New York has rebuilt itself over the past two and a half decades. Over here at Oprah Daily, we’re highlighting 11 people who embody just how resilient downtown Manhattan is in a series titled Never Bet Against New York. I sat down with one of them: Bill Dacunto.

On September 11, 2001, Dacunto experienced a series of miraculous, lifesaving moments. His day started like many others, in his office on the 88th floor of the North Tower. Around 8:15 a.m., Dacunto said goodbye to his team and went downstairs to attend a breakfast meeting at the ground-floor restaurant. He arrived to find that his usual table, positioned under a glass ceiling, was taken. Seated off to the side by happenstance, he watched that very ceiling collapse minutes later under the impact of the first attack. He escaped immediately into the lobby, but before he could make his way back up to the 88th floor, he encountered a woman on fire. Attempting to find her help, he exited the building. Outside, he heard the second plane approaching and watched it accelerate, turn on an angle, and crash into the South Tower—understanding immediately that New York City had just been attacked by terrorists. He later discovered that none of the team members he left earlier that morning survived the events of that day.

“I have a lot of guilt for surviving, because these people that I worked so closely with didn’t make it. Why? Why them and why not me?” Dacunto confessed when asked how that day changed him. What’s remarkable, however, is that he transformed his guilt into a patriotic mission. Inspired by his then 70-year-old boss, who dedicated the rest of his life to rebuilding the World Trade Center, Dacunto passionately joined the reconstruction effort. Today, 25 years later, Dacunto’s office is at 7 World Trade Center: rebuilt and reclaimed.

Watch my full conversation with Bill Dacunto above and all 11 stories here.