Thousands of lives were tragically lost in the devastating terror attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, but one woman has come forward to share how actress Gwyneth Paltrow inadvertently saved her life.
It’s been 22 years since two hijacked planes were flown into the Twin Towers, resulting in the deaths of 2,977 individuals. People worldwide watched in horror as the events unfolded live on television.
In the wake of the tragedy, survivors began sharing their stories, with missed trains and heavy traffic leading some to narrowly escape the disaster.
One such individual is account manager Lara Lundstrom Clarke. She claims a random encounter with Hollywood star Gwyneth caused her to be late for work at the World Trade Center, saving her from being in the second tower when it was struck by a plane.
Lara, who was employed at Baseline Financial Services on the 77th floor of Tower 2, was only 24 years old when the 9/11 terror attacks occurred. She recounted how she was crossing 7th avenue to Christopher Street station when a silver Mercedes SUV nearly hit her, reports the Mirror.
“I stopped and they screeched to a halt,” she told The Morton Report. “Then it developed in to one of those classic who-goes-first situations. It got ridiculous. Then I made eye contact with the Mercedes driver. OMG it was Gwyneth Paltrow.”
Lara said Gwyneth waved across the road and she continued towards the subway station.
She added: “At least if I was late for work I had a story to tell.”
As Lara rushed to catch her train, she reached the platform just as the doors slammed shut in front of her, eerily similar to Gwyneth’s movie Sliding Doors.
Completely unaware of the tragedy about to unfold, Lara said she was “annoyed at everything that had made me late that day, including Gwyneth Paltrow”. By the time she arrived at the World Trade Center, the first plane had struck and she was told to remain in the subway station.
She described the scene as “total chaos”. Throughout the frightening ordeal, Lara said she could only focus on her parents and what would become of them if she perished.
She said her “heart was racing, I was paralyzed.”
When people were eventually allowed to leave the station, a police officer was instructing them to get as far away from the Towers as possible. Lara remembered witnessing people leaping from the building.
Minutes later, the second plane crashed into her office.
Miraculously, most of her colleagues managed to make it out alive. Lara has since given Gwyneth credit for saving her life and said: “If I had made that train I would have been at my desk on the 77th floor of 2 World Trade Center.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
