Sujo John: Escaping The 81st Floor On 9/11, Finding Out His Wife Is Alive, Discovering Purpose With YouCanFreeUs

Sujo John: Surviving 9/11, Finding Purpose, and Living the Gospel Out Loud

In this week’s Team Never Quit Podcast, Marcus and Melanie meet with Sujo John, who, on the morning of September 11, 2001, went to work on the 81st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center carrying a question that had been weighing heavily on his heart: What is my purpose?

Just months earlier, Sujo and his wife, Mary, had moved from India to begin a new life in America. They were expecting their first child, building successful careers, and seemingly living the American dream. Sujo worked in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, while Mary worked on the 71st floor of the South Tower.

Yet despite everything going well, Sujo felt an unmistakable emptiness. He believed God had a greater calling on his life but had no idea what that calling would look like.

At 8:05 a.m. on September 11, Sujo sent an email to a friend at church describing his search for meaning and purpose.

Less than an hour later, everything changed.

American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower. Sujo's office filled with smoke, fire, shattered debris, and chaos. As terrified employees searched for a way out, Sujo began the long descent down the stairwell, surrounded by hundreds of people trying to escape—and firefighters and police officers heading in the opposite direction toward the devastation. All the while, Sujo could think of only one person: Mary. He had no way of knowing whether she was alive.

After escaping Tower 1, Sujo began making his way toward Tower 2 to find her. Then the unimaginable happened. The South Tower collapsed. Standing near the base of the building, Sujo found himself surrounded by people as the massive structure came crashing down around them. In those terrifying moments, he began praying and felt compelled to tell the people nearby to call on the name of Jesus.

Soon, voices around him were crying out, "Jesus!" When the dust settled, Sujo found himself buried in several feet of white soot and broken glass—but alive. Through the darkness and debris, he encountered a man lying face down who had a flashlight. Sujo encouraged him to get up and keep moving. When the man stood, Sujo noticed the letters FBI on his jacket.

Together, the two men held hands and walked through the near-zero visibility until they spotted the flashing lights of an ambulance and eventually found their way to safety.

But Sujo still didn't know whether Mary had survived. Then his phone rang. It was Mary.

In an extraordinary turn of events, her train had arrived at the World Trade Center subway station just minutes after the first plane struck. She had never made it inside Tower 2. Both had survived.