Survivor Rebuilds Life In Spiritual Way

MY9TV.com - Paul Carris never thought he'd be a church deacon.

He also never thought the twin towers, where he worked on the 71st floor, would be attacked and collapse.

Carris says:  "There was this loud impact that is hard to describe. The sound and then the building shook"

And it shook everyone on his floor.

"I realized it tipped to the point when I wasn't sure if it would keep going and then it rocked back into place and then there was all this debris and fire coming down the side of the building"

But with a cool head and the urge to survive, paul headed to the stairs.
In the stairwell everyone was calm

Carris, a transit engineer for the Port Authority, not only got himself out.
He also rescued a co-worker he'd never met before that day.
Down the steps to safety.

"I think that my focusing on her helped me focusing on everything going on that day"

Paul also became a man of God.

"I'm a cradle to grave Catholic."

And was always involved in the church.
But after 9-11....

"I found myself searching for something. I didn't know something was missing. But I never felt that my faith was as real as it was after 9-11."

So Paul felt a calling to serve others, studied to become a deacon and was ordained this past spring.
Try to pull people away from just focusing and challenge them a little, what's happening with your life.

It was Monsignor Lew Papera who brought paul closer to the church.
Monsignoir Lew Papera says: "Paul really opens life up. Very often in traumas people close in on themselves. Not speak"

And on this 10th anniversary of the terror attacks, Paul Carris offers these thoughts.
"There's a big population out there that focuses on the never forget. I'm going to working on a theme of i'm going to be working on a theme of remember, reflect and respect."