2023 FOX News Network, LLC. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ Joanne Vasquez. }); September 11, 2001, started out like any other day for Joanne Jojo Capestro but soon turned into a nightmare she can never forget. We had no clue what was going on.'. 'I just showered and put my clothes in plastic bags and put them in a bin in my basement and left them,' she said. Capestro in 2021 outside Cortlandt Street station - the same subway station she commuted to the morning of the attacks (right). ", September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks Wikipedia, Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance Wikipedia, September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks Cookie Notice 'And we were just hanging out waiting for the market to open when the plane struck at8.46am and my life changed forever.'. ga('create', 'UA-67136960-15', 'auto', 'ads'); Today Joanne is quoted in an article by the AP. Woman seen in iconic 9/11 photo gets the same photographer to shoot her wedding 17 years later. She shared that it was only until they reached the 64th floor that other people began to use the stairwell to escape. and our Joanne Capestro was on the 87th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center. A survivor contributed her World Trade Center worker ID, dust-coated clothes and the high-heeled shoes she shed going down 87 flights of stairs to safety, items she'd kept boxed in a basement for 13 years. hitType: 'event', She added that it was an amazing experience to have him present when she married the love of her life, Robert Vasquez. pageTracker._trackPageview(); eventAction: 'click_image_ads' Phil was with me on the best day of my life and the worst day of my life". 'I would sit at the site and watch them dig the rubble - thats how traumatized I was,' she told DailyMail.com. A photographer who snapped an iconic photo of Joanne "JoJo" Capestro just moments after she escaped the collapsing towers in New York City on 9/11 has captured another memorable moment in the woman's lifeher wedding day. A retired police detective gave the sole-scorched boots she wore while working amid the smoking wreckage of the twin towers. The third exit we never really used so we were lucky to even find that exit. I contemplated if I should go into the office or not. The pair later formally met back in 2015 at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, where Penman's photo of Capestro was on display. "Phil was with me on the best day of my life and the worst day of my life," Joanne Capestro told the Daily Mirror. Commemorative golf balls from the delayed September 2001 Ryder Cup golf tournament help demonstrate how the world stood still after the attacks. So does Capestro. },false) Once Capestro made it out of the tower, the building began to collapse and she started running and screaming "God help me". It means something to somebody. Capestro arrived to work in Lower Manhattan that day feeling under the weather, but prepared to work as an executive assistant on the 87th floor of the North Tower. "Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11" will air on MSNBC on Saturday and Sunday at 10 p.m. 'I remember as a young girl we would go and look at the new buildings being built in the city. We didnt get to exit off the 87th floor until the second plane went into the other building," she added. Victoria had a drive-by bridal shower last month with her mom Credit: Instagram/theresacaputo. ga('ads.send', { window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { ', Going into the 20th anniversary, Capestro said she feels 'really good' about her life and jokes that she is 'forever young.'. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), "I really felt so different from that moment on and it took me many years to heal," Capestro said. "When we met, he came into my office and just looked at me and I look at him and just started crying," Capestro told the Daily Mirror. I remember it was like it was yesterday to be honest with you. Three years ago she and Penman met for the first time and stayed in contact; he volunteered to take photographs for Capestro's wedding day on August 11, 2018 She told DailyMail.com: 'Phil was. Penman scrapped his plans and rushed downtown. Some new donors to the Sept. 11 museum hadn't realized everyday possessions could be museum exhibits. 'Very open to the idea': Julia Wandelt takes DNA test to verify if she is missing Swiss girl Livia Schepp, Kayla Lemieux: Teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breasts suspended WITH PAY after pics show her dressed as man, 'We have lots to reveal': Madeleine McCann lookalike Julia Wandelt posts footage of meeting with PI probing claims, Lindsay Clancy case: Psychologist reveals psychosis red flags family members could have spotted, Horror at Larchwood Care! if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ }); eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), 'In the last 20 years, I have gone down to the site on around 14 of the anniversaries and I go down quite a bit all year round to be by the pools of water. The impact was so strong and the building was shaking until all of a sudden it stopped.. "So Phil actually filmed me on the worst day of my life. In a heart-touching note that might give some friendship goals, Joanne even mentioned the importance of her friendship with Phil: He was present with me on the best day of my life and also on the worst day of my life. A place for pictures and photographs. While she was on the call, the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower only six floors above Joanne's office where she worked as an assistant secretary. She was able to locate theonly available staircase exit and rushed down 87 flights of stairs while in high heels. Joanne Vasquez. Capestro pictured on her wedding day. 'We have a great friendship. But I have to say when I turned the corner, I owe a lot of it to Phil Penman. Watch popular content from the following creators: archie(@_911_footage_), Gianna Ciappa(@giannaciappa), Jo-An Castro(@joancastroparker), Joann Cavarro(@joanncavarro), joanna caputo(@jjoannacaputo) . She is based in New York City. She told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that she 'saw my life flash in front of me three times' that day. Shortly afterward, Penman, then 24, received a phone call. Two compelling reminders of the long manhunt that followed 9/11 went on display Sunday: a Navy SEAL's uniform shirt from the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and a CIA officer's special coin commemorating the operation. Can it? Now, at the museum, "I know that they're taken care of. Years later, Penman's photos were shown at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in a 2015 exhibit. Street photographer Phil Penman was on the ground during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. May Davis Group employee Joanne "JoJo" Capestro began her evacuation on the 87th floor of the North Tower after experiencing what felt like an earthquake and smelling jet fuel. Joanne Capestro (on left with a coworker) is photographed by Phil Penman on 9/11 covered head to toe in thick dust and debris seconds after the South Tower fell as she fled from the World Trade Center, Capestro, now 59, returned to the same spot two decades on to be photographed by Penman - who is now a close friend - to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Capestro in 2021 the same area on Park Row where she was captured in the harrowing photo (left). ga('ads.send', { The fateful day has since been known as the worst domestic attack America has ever experienced. Joanne Sarli Vasquez (Sarli) See Photos. It's a bond that can't be broken," she added. To his surprise, staff there immediately recognized Capestro in his image and united Penman with her three years ago. After getting home from the debris pile at ground zero after 9/11, Detective Carol Orazem peeled off her battered, hosed-down boots and eventually put them in the attic. Living with survivor's guilt was not easy. 'I found a great partner who understands who I am - everybody has some sort of past and mine is 9/11,' she said. She fled down 87 flights of stairsand was only just outside the building when it began to collapse. Some victims' relatives still bitterly oppose it as more tourist attraction than tribute. Grandmother with dementia died from face wound neglected by staff for days. 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'I want peace and serenity and people to join together as one.'. To this day, Capestro said she doesn't know if the officer who helped her survived. Since they reconnected, Capestro and Penman have kept in touch, talking on the phone and meeting up often. Capestro had no idea that Penman had captured the moment, and the two only met after his work was displayed in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Capestro told how she has 'worked on myself', read a lot of self-help books and met with a lot of other survivors over the years. "That's how it all started and we stayed in touch for all of these years. 196 Likes, 2 Comments - Kimberly Chrisman-Campbel (@wornonthisday) on Instagram: "Shoes worn #onthisday in 2001 by Joanne "Jojo" Capestro (left in Phil Penman's iconic photo) when" Much to his astonishment, the staff there recognized Joanne and united Penman and her around three years ago. "I wasn't even outside 30 seconds and building tower two started to fall down on me," she said before she reunited with a co-worker, who had also managed to leave. The Photo of Joanne Jojo CapestroPhoto Credit is Phil Penman who also photographed her wedding years later. Just in a picture alone.'. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Capestro, then 39, worked at the World Trade Center, on the 87th floor of the north tower. Smoke pours out of the North and South Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan after they were struck by two hijacked airplanes, First responders and New Yorkers help and administer first aid to survivors of the terrorist attacks on America's darkest day, Mangled steel, dust and rubble litter the streets of the city after the Twin Towers were targeted in a terrorist attack. ", Still, it was strangely hard to let go of her piece of Sept. 11 history, she says. 'It started offas a beautiful day and I took a train with my girlfriend Anna and got off at Cortlandt Street and went up to the building,' she said. "That's how it all started and we stayed in touch for all of these years. 'Every floor was different - some were on fire, some there were people bleeding, some there was glass on the floor,' she said. }) Sometimes Joanne goes by various nicknames including Joanne Grippa. document.querySelector("#ads").addEventListener('click',function(){ Probably, there cannot be a better way to think of friendship from the perspective of the (time of) trials and tribulations that it manages to leapfrog. Capestro with Phil Penman on her wedding day (right). Seventeen years on, the man who took that picture on the worst . See Photos. Discover short videos related to joanne capestro on TikTok. Neil Matthew Dollard's relatives talked for years about donating the few possessions authorities found after the bond broker died at the trade center. IE 11 is not supported. Arguably, at the most important date of her life; can there be anything more important than a marriage, Phil was present to capture her on her wedding day. Capestro, who now lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, is happily married, has nine grandchildren through marriage and is still working on Wall Street in a job she finds 'very rewarding'. He eventually donated his picture of Joanne tothe National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Two of the three exits to the office were melted shut from the heat of the fire above, she said. Six weeks ago, he was the photographer at my wedding. "Phil was with me on the best day of my life and the worst day of my life," Capestro said. But when they see that photo, they go, 'Well, now I know what she went through.' There they stayed until she saw another first responder's awe at spotting his own helmet on display in the museum. They proceeded to rush to a third stairwell exit which was completely empty. Capestro said she didn't know the photo of her existed until Penman donated it for display inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and a staff member recognized her in the image and put them in touch. Relatives have brought new photos or recorded new remembrances to profiles of the nearly 3,000 victims. Capestro put it best when she said: Phil was with me on the best day of my life and the worst day of my life.. That image was captured by a New York-based Philman and has, since then, gone on to become one of the most iconic images of individuals who emerged unscathed even at the wake of such a tumultuous incident. Another man photographed her and the picture went on to depict the catastrophe that was the 9/11 tragedy in its full fury. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Image credits: Photographs by Phil Penman and used with permission, Wildlife Photographer Shows How to Fend Off a Lion with Toilet Paper, Wedding Photo Found at Ground Zero After 9/11 Finally Returned to Owner After 13 Years, Unseen Photos of 9/11 Attacks Found in Old Photo Album, This Massive Dust Storm Was Shot from a Fleeing News Helicopter, Great Reads in Photography: September 12, 2021, Hacker Hoodie Blinds Surveillance Cameras with Infrared Light, Why AI Image Generators Cant Get Hands Right, Russian Spy Plane Destroyed Thanks to Civilian Drone, The Exposure Donut for Sony Cameras Simplifies Manual Exposure, Photographer Catches Falcon Hitching a Ride on a Goose. 27.4m members in the pics community. Years later, a museum curator interested in the photo connected . Joanne Capestro runs barefoot with a colleague from the World Trade Center's North Tower, moments before it collapsed on 9/11. ga('ads.send', { Capestro recalled how she ran down the stairwell as quickly as she could, passing floors where some had been impacted by the plane's striking them while others seemed almost like nothing had happened. pg.acq.push(function() { Speaking of her memories of September 11, 2001, Capestro recalls: That was a regular day for me. Joanne Capestro-Vasquez. "All of a sudden, you just start seeing like, the emergence of people kind of walking towards you," Penman said. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, a dust-covered Joanne Capestro was photographed by street photographer Phil Penman as she stumbled away from Ground Zero. A 28-year-old self-taught photographer, Jack Alexander specialises in intimate portraits with musicians, actors, and models. ", How a 9/11 photo brought two people together, Capestro recounted on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna Friday, America prepares to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11, Officer who survived WTC collapse reflects on 20th anniversary of 9/11, An oral history of 9/11, as told by kindergarteners at ground zero 20 years ago, 12 defining photos we will never forget from 9/11. }); Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #joanne_castro, #joannacastro, #canestro, #joannecorpuz . media-tech companies with hubs around the world. Capestro added that once they reached the 64th floor she began to notice more people crowding into the stairwell to escape. 'It's something I'm never going to forget but it has given me the strength and courage and resilience to put my best foot forward every day and thats what's important,' she said. }); By Rachel Sharp For Dailymail.com and Jolie Novak For Dailymail.Com, Published: 12:23 GMT, 11 September 2021 | Updated: 03:02 GMT, 12 September 2021, A 9/11 survivor who was captured in a harrowing image after escaping the North Tower has spoken out to reveal the terror of that day and said she puts 'my best foot forward every day now because we can't let terrorists win.'. Capestro and her colleagues fled the building using the stairs. hitType: 'event', Capestro said she 'can't believe it's been 20 years already' as she said she hopes people will remember how the city and the nation was in the days after 9/11 when people came together to help each other in their darkest hours. },false) "Our heartfelt thanks to our friends at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., especially Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Stoltzfus, Mr. Whaley, and JoAnne Capestro, for their kind hospitality." This event was part of the College's year-long 150th anniversary celebration. As seen in photographer Phil Penmans photo, she and a colleague were walking away from the site, clearly shaken up and covered in thick white dust and debris. On September 11, 2001, Capestro was working as an assistant secretary on the 87th floor of the North Tower when the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into it. The two are now close friends and he photographed her wedding, 'I took an enormous turn and I'm very grateful for that as I get to tell my story to educate children who werent born yet what a horrific act it was.'. "He was with me for the best day of my life and the worst day of my life," she added. ', Capestro photographed in front of One World Trade Center in 2021 - 20 years after surviving the 2001 terrorist attacks. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. A woman who was captured in an iconic 9/11 dust-covered photo had the same photographer at her wedding 17 years on. Six weeks ago, he was the photographer at my wedding. Penman agreed with Capestro on the bond and friendship that developed between them. "That's where he died.". They must have left already!". Finding the displays tasteful, the relatives decided to contribute the items: his wallet, cards he carried, and pocket change. The institution trod a difficult path to opening, facing delays and controversy. She is marking the 20th anniversary by joining fellow survivors and family members of victims at the memorial ceremony. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { Email or phone: Password: . PressReader. Capestro, now 59, returned to the same spot two decades on to be photographed by Penman - who is now a close friend -to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks. 'We were rocked again when the second tower was hit and that made me run,' Capestro told DailyMail.com. The couple tied the knot in a beach wedding, and shared photos of the nuptials on Instagram. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 'A lot of survivors go there and I'm just so happy that the 9/11 family members have a place to go to mourn their loved ones and we get to see our survivor friends and it's like a big 9/11 family.'. For more information, please see our "Phil was with me. Daily Mail Interestingly, the very same man who'd taken her photo back then captured her once again on the lens. Videos of the Museum. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Do not sell or share my personal information. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. "What am I going to do with these boots? Capestro said. 'I've lived my whole life in New York, my parents came from Little Italy and I didn't want to run away,' she said. Once outside Joanne ran and ran and ran then hid under a car as things collapsed around her, the wounded and dead all around, including co-workers. Years later, as both Penman and Capestro were donating their work and belongings related to the terror attacks to the 9/11 museum, the two decided to meet. Capestro, then 39,was photographed that day covered head to toe in thick dust and debris as she fled from the World Trade Center with a coworker. It was then that he knew a plane had hit one of the twin towers. She was covered in toxic dust and debris when she walked out and was photographed by Phil Penman who had grabbed his camera and rushed to the scene. "We were waiting to see what the museum looked like" and how it handled people's possessions, said one of his sisters, Megan Fajardo. 'I'm happily married, have a great husband and thank God every day for him. Phil Penman's iconic 9/11 photo of Joanne Capestro. The picture tells us a thousand words," Capestro shared. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. hitType: 'event', eventAction: 'click_adunit' Moments later the tower collapsed. 'I would love to meet with him but I can't remember his name,' she said. "https://ssl." Joanne Capestro is my neighbor and friend. Penman eventually donated the photo he captured of Capestro along with others to be displayed inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. But the phone rang and he answered, then the plane hit five or six floors above us. She felt ill but still decided to go to into work from her home in Brooklyn. It just went to voicemail," Penman told TODAY. document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); Joanne Capestro 's birthday is 07/12/1962 and is 60 years old. "When we're gone, it needs to be somewhere where it can be seen, where it will be safe," Fajardo said. As reported by DailyMail, Joanne shared, "Phil and I stayed in touch all of these years. Capestro told DailyMail.com September 11 began like any other day in the city as she commuted to work at the May Davis Group offices on the 87th floor of the North Tower. Phone Number: (347) 497-**** Joanne Anne Capestro, age 60, Brooklyn, NY Background Check Locations: Brooklyn NY Possible Relatives: Christina Capestro, Debra Capestro Sponsored by BeenVerified