Annual 9/11 Stair Climb in Jackson brings emotion to participants
The Jackson Fire Department hosted the 2nd Annual Patriot Day Memorial Stair Climb at the Ballpark in Jackson on Sept. 9.
The event, created to honor the first responders who died in the 9/11 attacks, had participants climb an equivalent of 110 stories, which heroic firefighters scaled, while they rescued victims in the Twin Towers attack in New York City in 2001.
The event, organized with the help of Fire Marshal LaTrell Billingsley, was an idea years in the making.
“It was an idea that I had for a couple of years, and once my chief gave me the green light to proceed with it, I was elected to be able to do so and proud to continue it going for the second year,” Billingsley said.
Participants completed three laps going up and down each of the stadium’s 17 flights of stairs. After the end of the gauntlet, participants were greeted by a bell, which was rung to signify their completion.
The first to complete 2,208 steps was Jackson Central-Merry High School football player Keyon Davis, who tackled the climb in roughly an hour and a half.
Among those who participated were players from the JCM Cougars football team, the Crockett County Middle School Cross Country team, and Jackson City Councilwoman Candace Busby to name a few.
While in the midst of the late morning heat, two firefighters, Robert Johnson and Chris Hansen, completed the staircase dressed in full gear.
Hansen said the ceremony means a lot to him as he reflected on his personal experience with the tragedy growing up as a native of New Jersey.
“Our parents came picking us up after the first Trade Center was hit," he said. "Me and my best friend, we ran to the top of this hill in my neighborhood, and actually watched the second tower fall from across the water.”
Previously, Hansen ran the distance in full gear throughout Selmer for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a charity in honor of firefighter Stephen Siller. From that charity, he was given the badge of one of the firefighters who died in the attacks, Carl V. Bini of the NYFD Rescue 5 team, which he wears underneath his bunker gear at all times.
“This is an emotional time for me, you know, my brothers and sisters who died, 343 and continuously ones that died from cancer and everything that continues to happen. Doing this climb, it's not about me or anything. It’s about them. Honoring them under their memory.”
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Annual 9/11 Stair Climb in Jackson brings emotion to participants
