LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Hundreds of people gathered in Lexington for the annual memorial stair climb, honoring the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the Sept. 11 attacks, including the 343 firefighters who never made it home.
Every step and every bell toll at the event served as a tribute to those lost 25 years ago.
Among those climbing was an FDNY Rescue One firefighter who was at the towers on Sept. 11 and returned to mark the anniversary at the Lexington event.
Maria Oney, LFD assistant chief, said the event carries deep meaning for everyone who participates.
"Coming out, climbing the stairs, you know, doing an action to remember and to honor is what everybody is doing here today," Oney said.
As the years pass, more of those climbing the stairs are too young to have any personal memory of that day. Oney said that gives her hope.
"We've got so many young people, right? It gives me so much hope for our future that we've got young people who weren't alive when it happened," Oney said.
Andrew Adams, an LFD firefighter, is one of those younger participants. He wasn't alive on Sept. 11, but grew up learning about the firefighters who ran toward the danger.
"I'm really just trying to put a step forward and be as brave and honorable as those men and women were on that day," Adams said.
Mary Spanner, a 15-time participant, came as a community member carrying her own memories of the day.
"You came back up to a smudge more of a somber world, for a while. And everything was just different," Spanner said.
Jack Crysmer brought his fitness class to participate in the event as community members carrying their own memories of the day.
"Just brings back all the memories. And it's just an awesome way to remember the men and women who fell for us," Crysmer said.
Though participants came with different stories and different connections to the day, they shared a common purpose, ensuring the 343 firefighters who died in the attacks are never forgotten.
