Families recall Ecuadorians lost in 9-11 attack on World Trade Center

Newsamerica.org reported….When Henry Fernández was young, his father went to Spain with the promise to return soon to Ecuador to give his family a better life. But he never returned.

That experience had such a profound impact on him that as soon as he turned 16, he decided to leave his hometown of Biblián to immigrate to New York.

“Since he was a child, he said that he wanted to go to New York, and wanted to fulfill the promise that my ex-husband never did,” said his mother from Ecuador, Cecilia Hidrovo.

As soon as he came to the Big Apple, Henry worked various jobs, until a friend found him work at the Windows on the World luxury restaurant on the 106th and 107th floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

“He came to Windows on the World through a friend, and worked his way up from the bottom, until he become a pastry chef,” recalled Mrs. Hidrovo, 60.

Many times, when leaving work, Henry called his mother to talk about his day and ask what was happening with her and his brother.

But his call on the evening of Sept. 10, 2001, would be their last. They parted without knowing it.

At dawn on Sept. 11, Mrs. Hidrovo woke up with terrible news. Her old black-and-white television projected images of “fire and destruction” in the Twin Towers. She was sorry to hear it, but took a deep breath and thanked heaven that her son was not there. Read Full Article

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