On 11 September 2001, Bill Ellmore was booked to fly on United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco - one of the four flights hijacked by terrorists - until advice from a colleague led him to catch a different flight.
His account of what happened on 9/11, which he shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), has left users of the social media platform shell-shocked. But it's not for the reason you may expect...
The CEO of Solomons Global Executive Services wrote: "I was booked on United Flight 93 on 9/11, 2001, flying nonstop from Newark NJ to San Francisco CA. Around midnight the night before, a coworker called me urging me to change my flight to fly into San Jose instead."
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Bill didn't want to change flights. He'd have to give up his first class seat and the flight to San Jose left 20 minutes later with a stopover in Denver.
However, his co-worker explained that the commute from San Francisco to Mountain View - where he was attending a meeting - would make him late for the meeting and traveling from San Jose would be much quicker. He reluctantly agreed.
Bill recalls his frustration on the morning of 9/11 as he watched passengers board Flight 93, which left from the same gate as his later flight.
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"When I got to the airport, I watched people boarding flight 93 and I was upset that I was not leaving earlier, in my 1st class seat on a direct flight," he said. "I didn’t notice or care about the people as they were boarding, only myself."
He finally boarded his plane but as the flight was a few planes away from taking off, the pilot told passengers to look out the windows on the right side of the plane.
Bill said: "It appeared the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane. I thought it might have been a small Cessna until I saw the second plane strike the other tower. We were grounded just before taking off."
Bill says 9/11 changed him.
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"I now take every opportunity to watch and if possible, get to know the people I’m boarding a plane with," he wrote. "I never hesitate to give up my seat for a later flight if requested.
"I’ve had two children since 9/11 and went to multiple mission trips to war torn countries. Every day I wake up breathing is another gift from God."
He finished his astonishing story with the words: "Never forget."
But, the story only gets more astounding.
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When asked what happened to the co-worker who ultimately saved his life, Bill responded: "Sad to say, I ultimately had to fire her for poor performance. It was difficult."
He continued: "The reason I was originally booked on Flight 93 was due to her performance issues. These issues didn’t improve afterwards and I delayed letting her go until my boss insisted it happen."
X users were understandably dumbfounded by the revelation.
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One reposted Bill's story, writing: "Despite Musk's best efforts, this website continues to deliver jaw-dropping moments."
"I had to regroup after first coming across this yesterday," claimed another.
Another quipped: "'Every day is a gift from the woman I later fired.'"
Yikes!
Bec Oakes