33 year old Port Authority police officer Will Jimeno and his supervisor, Sgt. John McLoughlin, were the ONLY two people who survived being buried under the collapsed twin towers of The World Trade Center. A 3rd Port Authority cop, Dominick Pezzulo, survived the collapse of the first tower but died, bleeding out, 2 feet away from Will, after the second tower collapsed on them.
Their story was immortalized in the 2006 Oliver Stone movie World Trade Center, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena. One of their rescuers, NYPD’er Scott Strauss (who is featured in another “9/11 Stories” segment) says what they experienced was 100 times worse than what you see in that film.
Will Jimeno came to the U.S. from Columbia with his family when he was just 2 years old. At just 6 years old he decided he wanted to be a police officer when he grew up. After graduating high school, and serving in the Navy, Will was sworn in as a Port Authority cop less than 9 months before 9/11.
Married to his sweetheart, Allison, Jimeno was the proud dad of 4-year-old Bianca. Allison was 7 months pregnant with their 2nd daughter. Will and Allison were proud owners of their first house, bought in Clifton, New Jersey 6 weeks before 9/11.
Will says he was living the American dream. He recalled literally skipped down the stairs of his new home that morning, so happy with his life.