The congregation of Grace Covenant Church of God was silent except for a few quiet gasps as Stanley Praimnath described the moment he saw an airplane soaring toward him as he stood on the 81st floor of the World Trade Centers’ South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Lord, I can’t do this, take over,” Praimnath said were the words he shouted seconds before United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the building.
Praimnath, who still resides in New York, spoke at the New Ellenton church Sunday morning during its
Praimnath has traveled all over the United States to share his story and his message of faith as he said God heard his prayers during that dark day in American history.
“I want to take you back to that day when the Lord reached down in his mercy and handpicked me from a group of men and women, and I may never understand why I lived and other people died,” Praimnath said. “I will never understand why good things happen to good people, but I can tell you that on that day, I called, He heard and He answered.”
Praimnath and a co-worker had first spotted trouble when they noticed fireballs seemingly falling from the sky. That fire was emitting from the first tower that was struck. Praimnath said he was in an elevator when the first tower was hit and due to the sound proof walls of the building, he didn’t hear when the plane struck it. He was unaware of what happened. Sensing that something was wrong, employees got onto the elevator to vacate the building but were told by security guards to go back to their offices.
Moments later, the second tower was struck. Praimnath remembers seeing the plane at eye level, getting larger and larger. He can still hear the engine as it got closer and closer. He dove under his desk as the aircraft dove into the building. The floor above him collapsed, the sprinklers came on and cables hanging down were short-circuiting. The only desk that was still standing was the one he was hiding under, Praimnath said.
“And I’m calling out to this God that I’ve heard so much about, ‘Lord I don’t want to die, send somebody, anybody to help me,'” Praimnath said.
At that moment, hope shined through the thick smoke by a flash light and voices of other people. Praimnath started to crawl, bruised, scraped and suffering from a wound to one of his legs. There was a large wall in his way that he didn’t think he could get over but a voice told him to continue pushing forward, to think of his wife and his two daughters, he said.
He ended up breaking through the wall, and a man helped him through. That man was Brian Clark, another employee and survivor of the attacks.
“This man (Clark) held my hand gently, and he stared me in the eyes and said, ‘All my life, I lived as an only child. I was born and raised in Canada. I always wanted a brother, and I find that man today,'” Praimnath said.
After a long, painful and horrifying journey, the two men were able to exit the building through the stairwells.
Later in Praimnath’s story, his voice cracked for the first time as he described the moment he was able to call his wife, Jennifer, who had thought he perished. She was heading to work when she saw the plane strike the second tower.
“‘What are you doing this for? What are you playing games with me for? Please don’t do this. My husband is dead,'” Praimnath said his wife solemnly uttered over the phone.
“The Lord took care of me; I’m coming home to you girls,” Praimnath responded and hung up the phone.
Grace Covenant’s Church of God’s Rev. Edgar Foster said Praimnath came to speak at the church once before, for the six month anniversary of 9/11. Foster hadn’t heard Praimnath tell his story before, and he was touched by his presentation Sunday.
“It’s very powerful,” Foster said. “I can’t help but feel emotionally moved by how the Lord provided for him.”
Praimnath never intended to speak so publicly about his experiences on 9/11, but he does so to share a story of survival in which he thanks God for.
“My part is to tell about the grace that He bestowed upon me,” Praimnath said. “Ten years have come and gone, but the emotions still run strong – to think, what could have been and how the Lord took care of me.”
——————————-
Follow Aiken Standard on facebook and twitter for breaking news, updates, weather, traffic, and more.
Share with us! Email your story to mystory@aikenstandard.com, or send us your photos and videos to editorial@aikenstandard.com.
(This article is courtesy of www.aikenstandard.com. Article written by Amy Banton of the Aiken Standard)