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Rose Riso with coworker Mary Jos, who was severely burned on
September 11, but survived. (photo ctsy. Riso family)

Diane Fattah is one of several coworkers whom Rose Riso is credited with saving on September 11. American Airlines Flight 11 had just hit the north tower, and Ms. Fattah, working in the south tower at the time, was not sure what to do. "I was putting my files away," she says of the moments following the explosion in the tower next door. Like many people in the World Trade Center that day, Ms. Fattah and her coworkers didn't realize the full gravity of the peril they faced. "I didn't see the danger, I had no idea of the magnitude," she said. But Rose Riso did, and went into action. "Rose told me, in plain words, 'get out, get out right now, stop it,'" Ms. Fattah says. "When we used to have the fire drill, she'd would put the little red hat on and get the little whistle. I was just about to tease her that day and say 'where's your hat and whistle?' And I didn't get a chance because she was yelling at me to get out. She told us to get off the phone, don't call people, get out, call them downstairs. Like I said, it was only 35 seconds [after boarding the elevator that the second plane hit], that was it, that made the difference between me living and dying. If she hadn't have been there, no, I would have took my time."

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