'I fought my way out of that place'published at 17:04 BST
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesMarcy Borders was one month into a job at the North Tower when it was hit by a hijacked plane
Marcy Borders became the subject of one of the most enduring images of the 9/11 attacks.
She was just one month into a job at a Bank of America office on the 81st floor of the North Tower when a plane hit it.
"The building started quaking and swaying. I lost all control, and I went into a frenzy. I fought my way out of that place," Borders later recounted.
Defying instructions from her boss to stay put, she fled down the stairway and into the lobby of an adjacent building where she was photographed by Stan Honda, a photojournalist at the AFP news agency.
Covered in dust, her shell shocked face was emblematic of the nation's mood. In the media, Borders became known as the "Dust Lady".
Following the attacks, Borders suffered from severe depression and addiction. She died in August 2015 from stomach cancer, one of the most common cancers diagnosed in 9/11 survivors.
"Not only is she the 'Dust Lady' but she is my hero and she will forever live through me," her daughter Noelle Borders said following her death.



























