Matt Bocchi is a victim of 9/11, although he was in New Jersey, in 2nd grade that day. At 29, he is a survivor of sexual abuse, drug, and alcohol addiction, all stemming from the pain of losing his dad. Matt was just 9 years old when his 38 year old dad, John, died in the terror attacks on The World Trade Center, one of 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed that day, two-thirds of the company’s New York City workforce.
Matt describes himself as “super close” to his dad and became obsessed to learn exactly how he died. At just 10 or 11 years old, he started looking at books on 9/11. As he began watching every video he could find, one showing someone jumping, Matt became convinced his father jumped to his death, the lower half of his body found on September 14th.
Other than going to school and playing sports, he spent every waking moment looking at pictures or videos of the jumpers. His mom told him he needed to stop. Only one relative was supportive of his obsession: an uncle by marriage. Matt says he later came to realize his uncle was just grooming him for sexual abuse, after which Matt numbed his pain through drugs and alcohol. He was 23 when a spiritual visit from his dad compelled him to make the call to enter rehab. It was only after he got sober that he could talk about the sexual abuse. He took legal action against his uncle, who did 4 years in prison before he was released in 2020. Matt is the first child of a 9/11 victim to share his entire story in a book. His memoir is titled Sway.