Gwyneth Paltrow saved a woman’s life during the 9/11 a**acks after an unexpected meeting
If you were older than a child on September 11, 2001, you probably remember where you were at the time.
The day is etched in Americans’ consciousness because of the horrible events that occurred, including several airline hijackings, the demolition of New York’s Twin Towers, and the deaths of over 3,000 people.
Most Americans have their own 9/11 stories, but New Yorker Lara Lundstrom Clarke’s is one of the most bizarre.
Clarke was 24 years old in September 2001, and her employment as an account manager at Baseline Financial Services required her to work in the World Trade Center.
Clarke recounted the events of that day in an interview with The Morton Report, according to The Hollywood Reporter, explaining that she was on her way to work, cutting across 7th Avenue, when a silver Mercedes SUV almost hit her.
She recalled, “I came to a stop, and they screamed to a halt. Then it became one of those classic who-goes-first scenarios. It became ludicrous. Then I made eye contact with the Mercedes’ driver.
As it turned out, this wasn’t your typical New Yorker. It was actually the star of films like Shallow Hal and Sliding Doors, the future creator of Goop, and the would-be wife of Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
Clarke remembered: “OMG, it was Gwyneth Paltrow.”
Fortunately, no one was wounded in the close call between Clarke and Paltrow, but the experience had an impact on Clarke’s life that would eventually change its trajectory.
After the actor waved her across the street, Clarke realized she had missed her metro train by a few seconds. It was 8:47 a.m. when she took the second train and got off at the World Trade Center station.
According to the Miller Center, the first plane collided with the World Trade Center’s North Tower barely one minute earlier.
Clarke described the situation as utter chaos, trapped in the basement of a building. All I could think about was my parents and what would happen if I died. My heart was racing, and I was immobilized. I could not even talk. “Get me outside; I need to be outside.”
Just moments later, a second jet attacked the second tower, destroying the 77th level, where Clarke usually spent her days.
Clarke recognized how close she came to death and thanked Paltrow for saving her life.
“If I had made that train, I would have been at my desk on the 77th floor of 2 World Trade Center,” stated the woman.
Paltrow learned about the consequences of the incident when Clarke wrote her a letter.
According to Reuters, she told her version of the tale in 2011, stating, “I was on my way home on the morning of September 11—not that I knew what that meant at the time—and a girl was jaywalking across the street, and we kind of both stopped at the same time and waited a really long time.”
“Ten years later, I received a letter from her stating that she had been late to work… It was a great story, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all the people who had similar experiences that day but couldn’t reach out because the person was unidentifiable.