25 years later, 9/11 survivor works to educate future generations, preserve memories from the attack

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Twenty-five years after escaping the World Trade Center just minutes before the towers collapsed, Mike Dempsey, who now lives in North Carolina, is working to educate future generations about the September 11 attacks and support those affected by them.

Dempsey worked for Credit Suisse in World Trade Center 5, which was connected to the North Tower. His wife, Amy, worked on the 100th floor of the North Tower.

Amy was late for work that morning. Dempsey said she would have been trapped above the impact zone when the first plane hit if she had arrived on time.

As Dempsey searched for his wife amid the chaos, the second tower was hit. He was trampled by people rushing toward the street and knocked unconscious before being taken to a triage site.

"It was one of those paralyzing feelings that it's like watching the movie the day after when you were a little kid thinking it was a nuclear holocaust. That was the frozen point for me when I was scared for my life," Dempsey said.

Dempsey recalled being outside at a triage site when the second tower collapsed.

"It was an outdoor triage. And that second tower had collapsed. That debris cloud came toward the Brooklyn Bridge. We were outside. No TVs, not knowing the towers were hit or what was going on. And all of a sudden, you hear this, this loud rumbling noise," he said.

Dempsey spent the day at the triage site before being transferred to Mercy Medical in Rockville Centre. He spent three or four days in hospitals with serious injuries.

"I was there for the day and then transferred over to Mercy Medical in Rockville Center. So in hospitals for 3 or 4 days, fractured skull," Dempsey said.

In the years since the attacks, Dempsey has focused on education and helping others. He helped start the September 11th Education Trust and has worked with various charities supporting survivors, victims' families and first responders.

Dempsey said his work was inspired by the way people came together in the aftermath of the attacks.

"What a lot of us New Yorkers that day were focused on helping each other. And what we saw on September 12th was amazing. The people of the world became - everybody became a New Yorker that day on September 12th," he said.

A central part of Dempsey's mission is making sure people who did not experience the attacks understand what happened.

"We want the future generations to know what happened that day from people like myself and family members and first responders," Dempsey said.

Dempsey said he hopes the sense of unity and patriotism that emerged after the attacks can return.

"I think that's September 12th feeling of patriotism and being one country. I don't think we've ever had anything like that ever since. I hope the country can go back to a little bit of that brotherhood, helping each other and being one," he said.

Dempsey remains involved in charity outings and events, including Cantor Fitzgerald's Charity Day, which supports the hundreds of Cantor Fitzgerald employees who were lost in the attacks.