Home / Arts and Entertainment / 9/11 Survivor's Guilt: The Shifted Fate
9/11 Survivor's Guilt: The Shifted Fate
6 Sep
Summary
- A chef survived 9/11 by swapping shifts with a coworker.
- He lost 79 colleagues in the World Trade Center attack.
- Survivor's guilt profoundly impacted his life and career choices.
Sekou Siby, a former chef at New York City's Windows on the World, narrowly avoided being present at the restaurant on September 11, 2001, due to a shift swap with a colleague. He learned of the tragedy while at home and later discovered the colleague who took his shift was among the nearly 2,700 victims.
Siby lost 79 co-workers that day, an immense loss that fueled deep survivor's guilt and altered his life's path. He previously worked as a prep cook, learning skills to advance his career. The attack led him to abandon restaurant work, choosing a quieter profession as a taxi driver to avoid forming close relationships that could result in further loss.
He channeled his grief into advocacy, becoming president of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. Siby, now a US citizen, recently met the widow of the colleague who died in his place, intensifying his long-held guilt. He continues to honor the memory of his lost colleagues, including the young man who took his shift that fateful morning.
