OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two New York men who carried a wheelchair-bound woman down 68 floors of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 were recognized for the act.
Michael Benfante, 36, and John Cerqueira, 22, were in Omaha on Friday to accept "distinguished advocacy" awards from Bethphage, an affiliate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
The two men strapped Tina Hanson, 41, into a lightweight wheelchair and carried her down the north tower. At the bottom, Benfante and Cerqueira put Hanson in a waiting ambulance. They said they didn't know that Hanson had survived until contacted by a reporter days later.