NYPD veteran recounts harrowing escape during 9/11 attacks: 'I called out on Jesus and he saved me'
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The nation stops to honor those lost in the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York.
Twenty-three years ago, the images of smoke billowing from the twin towers shook many to the core.
"When I look at this picture, I see faithfulness, gratefulness," Deborah Darrisaw said.
Holding a picture of herself along with the then-New York City Police Commissioner, Deborah Darrisaw can't help but feel divinely blessed.
Former NYPD officer Deborah Darrisaw shows a picture of her with the former New York City Police Commissioner. (FOX 5)
"We just saw a puff of smoke, and we didn't know what it was, and we were sent there to ground zero," Darrisaw said.
While many watched on TV the images of smoke billowing from the twin towers on September 11, Darrisaw was there.
"I actually thought that a plane just blew up in the air. I didn't know a building was involved. I didn't think of terrorist attacks," Darrisaw said.
Former NYPD officer Deborah Darrisaw, accompanied by her children, visits the 9/11 memorial in DeKalb County on Sept. 11, 2024. (FOX 5)
Deborah was an officer with the NYPD schools division and it was all hands-on deck after the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center.
"We walked there. We evacuated all the schools. We weren't even thinking about a burning building. We saw feet, we saw heads, we heard people jumping and we saw people jumping," Darrisaw said.
Once evacuated, Deborah knew they needed to leave.
"I personally said, 'We need to get out of here.’ We were close to the building, and you could feel the heat. I said, 'This thing is going to come down,' and as soon as we started walking, all we heard was a domino effect, ‘Boom. Boom.' She said, 'Run and don't look back," Darrisaw said.
Former NYPD officer Deborah Darrisaw, accompanied by her children, visits the 9/11 memorial in DeKalb County on Sept. 11, 2024. (FOX 5)
Deborah says she looked back to see the first tower crumbling and the thick smoke rising. She was knocked to the ground.
"I saw my kids' lives flash in front of my head, and I just asked God to save me," Darrisaw said.
She and others were able to find their way to an empty Burger King.
Former NYPD officer Deborah Darrisaw, accompanied by her children, visits the 9/11 memorial in DeKalb County on Sept. 11, 2024.
"We were coughing, we couldn't see. We went to the bathroom and we used toilet water. We don't know to this day what was in it. It was the point of having water to wash our eyes like to have a visual," Darrisaw said.
From there, she described being placed in an ambulance and that's when they heard the familiar sound: the second tower crumbling.
"They were grabbing a pillow and oxygen mask to put on our faces. The silt was so thick from the tower falling," Darrisaw said.
Former NYPD officer Deborah Darrisaw, accompanied by her children, visits the 9/11 memorial in DeKalb County on Sept. 11, 2024. (FOX 5)
Eventually, she was taken to a hospital with bruises, a broken leg, and could barely breathe.
"I know on that day, Acts 2:21, stands out. ‘If anyone calls out to the name of the Lord, they shall be saved,’ and I stand on that scripture because I called out on Jesus and he saved me," Darrisaw said.
FOX 5 was with Darrisaw when she visited a 9/11 memorial outside the DeKalb County Police Department headquarters and was able to touch a piece of the building.
Former NYPD officer Deborah Darrisaw, accompanied by her children, visits the 9/11 memorial in DeKalb County on Sept. 11, 2024. (FOX 5)
She knows, unlike thousands of others, her children are able to say their mother returned home.
"Just looking at them and being able to be at graduation and seeing my five grandchildren grow up," Darrisaw said tearfully.