From Being Strangers to Friends for Life, Story of Joanne Capestro and Phil Penman Who First Met During 9/11

It was September 11, 2001, when Joanne ‘Jojo’ Capestro, 39, chose to go to work despite not feeling well. Her office was located on the 87th floor of the World Trade Center, North Tower. After settling down in her office where she was an assistant secretary for the May Davis group, she decided to go downstairs with her office colleague, probably for a short break. At that moment, they were interrupted by a phone call. While attending to the call, the American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into her building, just six floors above her own office.

Next Capestro found herself running down a flight of stairs through the only available stairway exit as the rest were damaged due to the impact of the plane. It was an exit that she never used during her period of work in the office. “The impact was so strong and the building was shaking until all of a sudden it stopped” she explained. They didn’t even exit the 87th floor, when the second plane hit the second tower.

Capestro was of the view that the exits would be initially crowded but the truth was that the people on the floors above her didn’t have the opportunity to escape. She rushed down 87 flight of stairs in just 22 minutes screaming “God help me.” Moments after she exited the building, the tall tower came crashing down only to be reduced to rubble. The towers that once stood handsomely tall were now plain debris.

Luckily, Capestro and her colleague escaped alive and were covered in dust. During those crucial moments, Phil Penman, a photographer got the horrific news. He rushed to the site and began clicking photographs of the thousands of victims and rescuers who were affected and Capestro was one among them.

In an intriguing photograph, Capestro looked shell-shocked alongside her colleague. She’s holding her high heels and purse on one hand and what looks like clenching a bunch of tissues in the other. In due course of time, Penman parted with these captivating photographs and gave it to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Capestro on the other hand, didn’t recognize Penman at the ghastly scene and she didn’t even know that he captured her in a photograph. Both of them were complete strangers on that fateful day. Fortunately, some of the staff members in the September 11 Memorial and Museum recognized Capestro. They decided to get Penman and Capestro together, just three years ago. Describing her first meet with Penman she said, “When we met, he came into my office and just looked at me and I looked at him and just started crying.”

The duo kept in touch thereafter. On August 11 this year, 17 years since he captured Capestro in the poignant 9/11 photos, he captured her happy moments once again on her wedding day. Penman was the photographer on her wedding day. He clicked Capestro alongside her husband and the love of her life - Robert Vasquez. “He was with me for the best day of my life and the worst day of my life”, said Capestro of Penman.