9/11 survivor seeks to showcase memorials in Las Vegas, US through special project
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – 22 years ago, countless lives were lost after the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington D.C.
One man who survived the attack inside Tower One of the World Trade Center is on a mission to help others find healing from that fateful day.
John Kostick told 8 News Now he wants to showcase every memorial across the country including the memorial in Las Vegas that has been dedicated to the moment in history.
Kostick said he thought of the idea when he realized there wasn’t a complete list of all the sites dedicated to remembering the tragedy. His goal is to photograph and document each site.
Back on Sept. 11, 2001, Kostick was working in Tower One on the 39th floor of the World Trade Center when the building was hit.
“You could hear them screaming and calling for help and there was nothing anyone could do,” he recalled.
He made his way out of the building but not before stopping and turning around to see what was happening.
“A man and a woman, they held hands and they jumped,” he said.
Kostick spent 18 months at Ground Zero restoring power and communications working alongside the first responders.
He remembered seeing posters and cards from all across the country filling the tents on the ground.
“Handwritten cards from students and I actually wrote back to this girl Shelby,” he shared with 8 News Now.
However, he said the endeavor came at a great cost to his health.
Since that time Kostick has dealt with cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even lost his voice in 2006.
He said he even had to teach himself to speak again.
Through his battles, he has been to visit 9/11 memorial sites and discovered there wasn’t a complete list of all of them.
“They were built with so much care for the people that were lost,” he added. “It has been forgotten by so many people.”
Kostick is putting together a single resource, which will provide the locations and details of each memorial across the country.
His most recent visit was to Las Vegas where he saw the memorials at the City of Las Vegas Fire Station 5 and the Firefighters Memorial Park.
For more information on The 911 Project click HERE.
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