Sarah Ferguson reveals chilling details from 9/11 near miss

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has taken to Instagram overnight to share new details about her narrow escape from the World Trade Centre terrorist attack 24 years ago.
The Duchess, who has previously revealed she was meant to be in the World Trade Centre’s North Tower when the plane struck the building, has shared even more details of the day and how her charity’s mascot, Little Red, was found in the rubble.
The Duchess, who is affectionately known as Fergie, also showed off the actual doll that survived the attack, which was at her home but is now on show at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
The video begins with Ferguson opening a box to reveal the doll inside as she begins to speak to the camera.
Watch the video above.
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Ferguson then recounted the story of how her friend, billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick, the now head of financial services company, Cantor Fitzgerald, gave her an office on the 101st floor of the World Trade Centre as a headquarters for her charity, Chances for Children.
Ferguson started the charity in 1993 and designed Little Red as the charity’s logo. She previously revealed she had it made into a doll for a child named PJ who survived the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombings.
Ferguson revealed her own Little Red doll “and her sisters” were inside the Chances for Children office on the 101st floor of the World Trade Centre’s North Tower on the day of the attacks.
She had been due to attend a meeting in the office but an earlier interview had run late, meaning she was still in a car on route to the building when the terrorists struck.
“I was driving in the car and I was late for work… and Little Red was found in the rubble,” she said in the video.
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“A fireman picked her up, carried her out, like the fireman that picked up PJ all those years ago in the Oklahoma City Bombing.
“And CNN filmed it and said, ‘Look, a child’s doll.’ And Larry King said, ‘That’s no child’s doll. That’s Fergie’s Little Red’ and she stands for children’s rights all over the world and she’s a sign of hope for children.
“What no one has ever seen before and I would like to share this with you is the actual doll that survived in 9/11.
“So here, I have it at home. Normally I talk about Little Red and here is the actual doll that survived.
“You can see the dust from the building — that’s never been seen before.
“And I hope Little Red will be talked about all over the world because she’s just a very strong, stoic little person.”
In a post to accompany the video, Ferguson said the doll “sat on her desk overlooking Manhattan on that fateful day when the towers came down.”
“She came down through the rubble and landed fully intact,” she wrote.
“Little Red was carried out of the rubble in the fireman’s hat exactly as PJ, a child burn victim, was carried years earlier in the Oklahoma City bombing, where the doll was first inspired to bring hope during difficult times and raise money for aid.
“Little Red now sits in the 9/11 memorial museum and serves as a reminder of hope within the darkness. We will #neverforget.
“Today you can donate to the Cantor Relief Fund should you wish to support families affected by disaster.”
It is not the first time Ferguson has spoken about her near miss, telling Hello! in 2018 that surviving the New York terrorist attacks had been life-changing.
“I take every minute as a blessing, I really do, and I really work hard at it. Because the minute you look too far forward, then you’re missing now,” she said.
Then, last year to mark the 22nd anniversary of the attacks, Ferguson took to Instagram to honour the victims and again talk about the near miss.
“I was meant to be there that morning 22 years ago but an interview ran late,” she wrote.
“The Little Red doll, the charity’s mascot, was found in the rubble. Today I am thinking of those who lost their lives.”
According to People, Brian Van Flandern, an emergency medical technician, found the doll in the rubble the day after the attacks and “searched in vain for a survivor or victim nearby” before learning it was a mascot of Chances for Children.
In 2018, Chances for Children merged with another charity, Street Child, of which Ferguson is the founding patron.