From terror to relief in seconds - 14th March 2012

In my head it looked something like this

There is no simpler way to say this. Today I am grateful to be alive. I know it sounds dramatic, but for about 20 seconds this afternoon I thought I was about to be trapped in a hotel as a plane crashed into it. In hindsight it's a bloody funny story, but at the time, it was terrifying.

As a colleague and I stood in the bathroom re-applying our makeup, the room was filled with the sound of a plane overhead. A plane that was so close it must have been metres above the building and getting louder by the second. In those few short moments, I imagined it hitting the building, formulated an escape plan (jumping over the balcony through a thick glass wall - not my finest moment) and wondered if I was going to die. My colleague and I stared at each other with looks of shock and slight panic. I was also starting to crouch down a little to somehow hide under the basin.

Just as I was bracing for impact (and possibly bursting into tears), the sound pouring into the bathroom changed from that of a crashing plane to a bloody song! It turns out my terror was the result of the introductory bars of what Beatles tune. Someone had turned on the music and it was coming through the speakers. Why would anyone think a crashing plane is a good start to a song? I will cut the Beatles a little slack, as it was recorded in a pre September 11 world, and I also thank them for giving me a whole lot to be grateful for today.