eat his way through paraguay. and then at 10:00 eastern, we have a live look at the filthy rich in "this is life." thanks for joining us this weekend. right now a cnn special report. san francisco shaken: 25 years after the earthquake. >> the following is a cnn special report. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: it is the ball game -- >> we're having a earthquake. >> reporter: -- that turned into a disaster. >> we have a complete structural collapse of the entire freeway. >> 25 years after a major earthquake rocked the bay area, stories from beneath the rubble. >> they have people trapped on

cypre cypress. >> there was nothing i could do to get free. so i wrote my husband a good-bye note. jack, earthquake hit while i was under concrete. worst happened. >> the upper deck of the bay bridge has collapsed. >> when i open my eyes, i'm looking directly at the water. >> do you remember what she said to you? >> we're not going to get out of here. yes, we are. >> tonight, san francisco shaken, 25 years after the quake. ♪ ♪ >> early evening, october 17th, 1989. and san francisco is in the middle of baseball madness. for the first time in nearly three decades, the city's giants are in the world series. adding to the excitement, their opponents are rivals from across the bay. the oakland athletics. >> it was a carnival atmosphere. everybody can't wait for the game to start. >> veteran sports caster al

michaels is in town to call the game and it is a perfect day for baseball. >> this was a pristine day, probably around 70 degrees. >> it is a gorgeous day. one of those indian summer days that you only get in san francisco. >> bill ray has left his office early and is walking towards his apartment in san francisco's hip marina district. >> i thought god, this is the most beautiful place in the world. why are we moving across the bay? >> bill, and his wife janet, were married two years and are exactly one month from closing on their first home. >> we had plans for children, a family and such, and it made sense for us at the time. >> for bill and his wife, this evening was all about baseball. >> my wife janet was a huge

giants fan. our plans were to stay at home and watch the game from home. >> near candlestick park, inside fire station number 9, the guys will be watching too. >> i was in the kitchen. they had gotten a load of prawns, as kind of an occasion. >> a 19-year veteran is on duty that night. it's his turn to cook dinner. >> and your plan was to lay low, hope there weren't any calls, right? >> oh, yeah, it was oakland and san francisco. so it was a big thing. [ cheers and applause ] >> the match-up has been dubbed "the bay bridge series." >> hey, giants all the way. >> after the main artery that connects san francisco with oakland. that bridge is where law student bruce stefan happens to be. >> my wife and i would walk down to school and walk back home and

we would never be in the car. we would never be anywhere near the bridge. >> but bruce has recently taken a day job as a construction manager. and must drive on the bridge this day. >> there was a project that was being built over in oakland. and they were turning the building over from construction to the property management group. so i had to go over for the celebration to do the little handoff. >> the national world series broadcast begins at 5:00 p.m. pacific time but the actual game is still about half an hour away. >> the crowd is filing in, there is a great sense of anticipation. the bunting is out. the field looked as good as it ever looked at candlestick park. >> tonight is game three, the first of the series. -- first of the series played at candlestick, san francisco's home stadium. >> the battle of the bay continues.

>> about 30 million people are watching on tv. >> the oakland athletics against the san francisco giants. i'm al michaels. welcome to game three. >> i came on the air, opened it up. we had a blimp shot, a few other things, i set the scene, here is what happened in the first two games. >> and he fails to get dave parker. so the oakland a's -- take -- [ shouting ] >> ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. in case of emergency, fans that are seated in the upper deck -- >> at first it is like what is this? this can't be happening. it takes a moment to understand. hey, wait a second. all hell is breaking loose. >> we are on the air and i can't -- >> bill ray's wife, janet is in their living room watching the pre-game show.

>> i was getting out of my suit. i had just pulled on my khakis and i was sockless and shirtless when the first jolt hit. it was quite strong. and i asked her to come to me. >> they meet in the hallway of their second floor apartment. >> and we were holding each other. the ground continued to shake. just as she got into my arms she said i love you. the -- and then the glass started to break. the apartment on two sides was surrounded by windows. and they started to shatter all at the same time. >> on the bay bridge, bruce stefan is coming home.

>> i was probably going about 50-plus miles an hour or so. and there was a caltrans truck that was doing some work on the lights. and right around the time that i had either just gotten even or past that caltrans truck it felt like i had a flat tire. and i remember thinking maybe they dropped a light bulb on the road. but it was in the series of split seconds. so in the next split second, it was two flat tires. and in the next split second it sounded like the engine was falling out of my car. >> near candlestick, fire station number nine immediately goes into emergency mode. trucks roar out into the street. >> jerry shannon is driving. >> as we went around the first block the radio chatter started. >> we're going to need some trucks down here as soon as you can get them. >> as the people came on the

radio, they were trampling over each other. >> what did that tell you? >> you never hear that. that is the radio you use ten times a day. everybody is cool, calm, collected. you wait your turn. the pitch of their voices was going higher and higher. there was a little bit of -- i don't want to say panic, but a lot of excitement. they came on the radio and said truck nine to cervantes and fillmore and the captain checked that, you want truck nine to cervantes and fillmore? >> it doesn't make sense, because cervantes and fillmore in the marina district, seven miles from jerry on the opposite side of town where bill and janet ray's world has just crashed down around them. based on all the chatter and what they were saying, what were you expecting when you got to the marina district?

>> i was not expecting what i saw. >> ahead? >> you're looking at the bay bridge, that is the section that has collapsed. >> do you remember dropping? >> it was just this big noise. a] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. sir, we're going to need you on the runway. (vo) theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. (vo) theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. (vo) theraflu. serious power.

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four minutes and 30 seconds past 5 p.m. pacific time, baseball fans are expecting an epic game, commuters are having an easy rush hour. traffic is light. [ sirens ] >> we're having an earthquake. wait a minute, wait a minute. can you feel that?

>> until the earth shifts and lives are changed forever. >> it has collapsed. we have a major injury accident, cypress from west grand advising major injuries. we're attempting -- >> saleswoman dorothy otto is driving her pontiac on the bottom level of oakland's double-decker cypress freeway. she's racing to meet with a customer. >> 32nd and cypress. the entire overhead of the freeway is down all the way to the -- >> big cement bars with rebar in them, just blew apart to dust. it was amazing. then i fell 25 feet, and i heard people screaming, and i was shocked that i was alive. >> the upper deck of the cypress is lying on top of dorothy's pontiac, the front of the vehicle is smashed to four inches. her left foot is trapped by the

emergency break and the crushed dashboard. >> i tried to pull myself free and there was nothing i could do to get free. so i got a piece of paper and wrote my husband a good-bye note. >> jack, earthquake hit while i was under concrete. worst happened. it collapsed on car, i'm alive, just my left foot is stuck under the car, love you lots, good luck to us both. >> inside candlestick park where the world is watching the quake live, al michaels is scrambling to figure out what's going on. >> are we on the air or not? i wasn't sure. >> players and fans are oblivious to the severity of the damage, from the 6.9 magnitude quake. >> the giant is awake! >> the game will be postponed. >> there was no way to know what the damage was outside the stadium, not like a lot of ballparks where you can see

downtown or outside. >> outside, not only has the cypress collapsed but a piece of the bay bridge has caved in. bruce stefan is driving a gray mazda on the upper deck. as a 50-foot chunk gives away. >> it was like a giant was trying to remove the table cloth, and pull it out from a bunch of dishes and shaking the bridge. >> shaking the bridge. >> yeah, it was just this big. [ sound effect ] and then it's dropping. >> so do you remember dropping? >> i remember dropping and the second i felt the sensation of dropping, i thought it was all over. i mean, we at the time of course thought the whole bridge was falling down. and i remember screaming, we're going to die. and that is the last thing i remember. san francisco firefighter jerry shannon is heading north of the bridge to the marina district where homes are built on landfill or soft soil.

making them vulnerable to shaking. so when you came over this hill what did that look like to you? >> everybody gasped. i had never seen anything like it. >> i mean, it was so big it looked like an atom bomb. >> it is not a bomb. >> a very large building is on fire. >> it is a four-story residential building. bill and janet ray call it home. they are huddled together underneath a doorway in their second-floor apartment. >> and the next thing i knew that i was flat on my back and janet was laying on my chest. >> their home has dropped a dozen feet into the garage on the first floor. >> her head is right here. we're surrounded. >> the third floor has collapsed on top of them. leaving a space for bill and janet about two feet wide by two feet high.

>> it reminds me of a coffin. i could feel my wife's breath. i'm sure she could feel mine. >> why couldn't you move her at that point? >> there was glass or wood that was cutting into her. >> help does come. their apartment manager hears them and promises to return with rescuers. >> i was almost euphoric. i was just absolutely confident we were going to get out of there. >> and was she? >> yes. >> what bill and janet don't know is that the quake has ruptured both gas lines and water mains. >> while we were driving down you could really see water like a creek running down the middle of the street. >> firefighter jerry shannon pulls up near the rays' apartment complex to help fight the gas fume fire now heading toward them. but there is a huge problem. there is not enough water pressure to force water from the hydrants.

>> the water was not going anywhere. it was just kind of trickling out. so with no water they told us to start the search and rescue. >> jerry turns his attention to the home directly across the street. >> i'm not sure if it was a paramedic but he came up and said, i think i heard somebody in that building over there. the top floor was out in the middle of the street and the first three floors were just rubble. i saw a spot under the fire escape so i stuck my head in it and i yelled is anybody in there. i didn't hear anything right away, i yelled can anybody hear me? yes, i hear you, i'm in there. >> it is a female voice. jerry is certain. and what did you think? >> i mean, i'm always looking at just tons of lumber in a pile. >> there is no clear way to reach the woman trapped inside. her building is unstable. and aftershocks are making it worse.

on top of that, there is a growing fire across the street. but he grabs a chainsaw and starts to crawl in. >> why did you go in? >> it's my job. >> did you have a plan? >> there was -- no. no. >> how difficult did it look to you that this rescue was going to be? >> it didn't look probable. >> still ahead -- >> do you remember what she said to you? >> we're not going to get out of here. synchrony financial partners with over two hundred thousand businesses, from fashion retailers to healthcare providers, from jewelers to sporting good stores, to help their customers get what they want and need. banking. loyalty. analytics.

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>> a hell of an earthquake. there is an ac transit bus, i believe. >> on the bay bridge, bus driver douglas berkhart is driving on the lower deck when the road right in front of him falls away. >> i put every ounce, i'm talking about every ounce of stretch in my leg and foot to stop the bus. >> douglas stops just feet from the gap where bruce stefan is unconscious and dangling precariously. >> when i open my eyes, i'm on an angle, i'm looking directly at the water. i have no idea why i'm still above the water. >> bruce's car is stuck on falling pieces of the bridge, caught in the steel support legs. >> all i know is this was a second chance. i mean, i was out of that car and by the hood of the car so fast that no one had gotten out of their cars on the bridge. and in fact, i'm holding the

lower roadway. i remember now suddenly, there was someone in the car with me. >> his co-worker, janice, who was riding with him. bruce tells her to come out of the car window. he gets her to the edge of the collapsed section but can't get her up onto the stable part of the roadway. >> and the bus driver at that moment had just gotten out of his bus, came running over and so i grabbed one of janice's arms, he grabbed the other arm, and together we pulled her up onto the roadway. >> and they take off. >> it was like, get janice on the road, walk the dry ground before the whole bridge collapses. >> while the situation on the bay bridge stabilizes, conditions on the collapsed double decker cypress freeway are becoming more horrific. >> the air was a mix of burning of rubber and flesh. >> oakland firefighter lorenzo

freddiany ventures down to the lower deck, where dorothy otto is trapped. >> i see a woman trapped in the car. >> the car was so deformed that my dashboard, the part that's supposed to be right here, was here on my shins. >> the emergency brake is also impaled into dorothy's ankle. >> we started working with the tools, and it wasn't easy. >> but nothing is working and lorenzo is rapidly losing his space to maneuver. >> we had aftershocks. and as the road came down, you had to avoid the roof crushing you. >> the space went from three and a half or three feet down to two and a half, to two feet. >> that is lorenzo in the quickly narrowing space. >> they started to leave. and i said, guys, don't leave me in here to die alone. >> i said i won't leave her, but

i said you need to make peace because i'm making peace right now. i did think i was going to die. >> 12-year-old desiree helm lives 250 miles from the crushed cypress, but she is scared out of her mind. her dad, buck helm, works right near the flattened structure and the last time she saw him things didn't go well. >> i was looking forward to going with him to the bay area and spending time with him, but he told me that the babysitter canceled, so i couldn't go. so i was quite upset. and i said some mean things to him. >> what did you say? >> i told him that i hated him. and then he left. and i didn't really say sorry or anything. >> now in the wake of the earthquake, desire has no idea where her father is. over in the marina district,

firefighter jerry shannon is struggling to rescue a woman from beneath a collapsed building. >> i was laying on my stomach with a chainsaw out in front of me. because there was only about a two and a half foot ceiling, and it was about three feet wide. so i just kept crawling with the saw and cutting. >> he can't see her so he is sawing in the dark, using her voice to guide him in the right direction. but just as jerry is making headway, his equipment fails. >> the chainsaw i was using got so dull that it would not cut anymore. so i crawled back through the bedroom and said i need another chain saw. and at that time i leaned back against the wall just to get a breather to rest my arms and then the thoughts start. if something happens, who will tell my kids? how will they tell them? >> right across the street from jerry, bill and janet ray are still trapped under rubble. firefighters are now inside what

is left of their building. >> and they said, don't worry we're going to get you out of there. and i could sense that there was desperation, this fellow who i never met was working so hard. to get the chainsaw started. >> the firefighter tries an axe instead. >> once they got the hole cut out, a gloved hand came through the hole. i grabbed his hand. the only thing that separated me and them was two inches of sub floor. >> they're so close, but incredibly debris is no longer the main obstacle to their rescue. >> it was during the axe chopping that the smoke started to roll into the floor that we were on. and i could smell it.

and that was a big concern to janet. >> do you remember what she said to you? >> we're not going to get out of here. ♪ >> ahead, jerry's choice. >> people were yelling in from the street to get out. and she is looking at me like, are you going to leave me here? you want i fix this mess? a mess? i don't think -- what's that? snapshot from progressive. plug it in, and you can save on car insurance based on your good driving. you sell to me? no, it's free. you want to try? i try this if you try... not this. okay. da!

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there have been hundreds of aftershocks since the quake first hit at 5:04. >> bodies down there -- all right. >> at the collapsed cypress freeway, each aftershock drops the top deck closer to dorothy otto. threatening to seal her and her would-be rescuer, lorenzo frediani, into their own tomb. >> she was nervous and scared, talking 100 miles an hour. >> he told me listen, you got to shut up and stop because i can't think. >> the last thing i want to hear before i die is a woman nagging

at me, and she said okay. and she stopped. >> now, about two feet of space remains and with dorothy's foot still trapped, drastic measures are required. >> we had called for the surgeon to cut her foot off. he says to me, okay, where is her foot, let's cut it off. >> dorothy is about to lose her foot. >> i said okay, just give me one more idea. >> lorenzo's idea is to take apart the jaws of life tool and use a small part of it like a crow bar and it works. their five-hour ordeal is over and she keeps her foot. >> boy, they popped me out like that, it was amazing. >> i made it. and then i cried. >> just 20 minutes later, the section of the cypress where

dorothy was trapped completely pancakes. over in the marina district, jerry shannon re-enters the collapsed building, hoping to save the woman trapped there. >> if you want to be safe take an office job. >> because there was no way you were not going back in? >> no. >> conditions are worsening quickly. the fire that was burning in bill ray's apartment is now threatening the building where jerry is working. >> i mean, people were yelling in from the street to get out and she is hearing it. and she is looking at me like you know, are you going to leave me here? >> he is moving quickly. and soon saws through a large beam. moving it means he can finally see the woman he has been hearing for more than two hours. >> as i came over the top she had a big smile, and i said first, my name is jerry.

and she said hi, i'm sharra. >> 55-year-old shara cox, a bookkeeper, an accomplished pianist, all that's left to free her, one final layer of debris. >> the door was on top of her, about an inch away from her body. and i got a chainsaw, she could see that blade going around and the noise of the chainsaw, the smoke, the whole thing. >> terrifying. >> yeah, yeah, she said i trust you. >> and then, finally, sharra cox is no longer trapped. >> it was the first time in two and a half hours that i was thinking, we're going to pull this off. >> this building is on fire. >> across the street, firefighters are trying desperately to free bill and janet ray. >> so they kept chopping. and then i heard a third person come into the room. >> and there was a muffled --

muffled voices. and i believe that the captain, who had come in, was pulling him out of the building and the one fireman was crying and didn't want to go. and that is when janet started yelling, don't go, don't go. and -- they left. without saying a word to us. it was an awful feeling. they left us to die. and that was crushing. at that point, i just told her how sorry i was. and i said, we're gonna get out of here. >> getting out means pulling himself through a small hole. and driving debris further into janet's back. >> though it was very painful to

janet, she said go, keep going. i told her i was going to get help. >> did you tell her you loved her? >> oh, yeah. i wasn't going to leave her. but, i got to the window and as i stood up, i fell into the bathroom and i was disoriented. >> bill ray doesn't know it yet but his leg is broken in several places. >> i distinctly remember looking out the window over here to where we're standing and there were 20 or 30 people looking up in this whole sidewalk, here's somebody standing in a crowd, and i can only remember his face. it must have been 50 yards from her, he got my attention. i was yelling, help me, help me, and he was saying, jump, jump, and he pointed up like that. i realized the fourth floor was fully engulfed in flames.

>> bill leaps from the window as the man races across the street and pulls bill from the rubble. a fireman jumps into help. firefighters eventually get the water going. it is too late for the ray's building. >> i was yelling at the firemen, go get my wife. go get my wife. and at that point while i'm still on the ground, the fourth floor collapses. everybody went silent. including myself. because at that point i knew she was dead. i was just hysterical. >> bright, beautiful and athletic, 28-year-old janet ray is dead. what was that like for you to see that? >> it was -- very painful. huge failure.

i made a commitment i couldn't keep. >> coming up, a miracle on the cypre cypress. >> when they were puming out the person on the gurney, my brother said, those are my tennis shoes. ♪searching with devotion ing out the person on the gurney, my brother said, those are my tennis shoes. person on the gurney, my brother said, those are my tennis shoes. person on the gurney, my brother said, those are my tennis shoes. e person on the gurney, my brother said, those are my tennis shoes. the person on the gurney, my brother said, those are my tennis shoes.

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>> dreblthly across the street from bill ray's nightmare, in another collapsed, burning building, a happy ending for shara cox. >> we just kept dragging her. when he got to the exterior wall, the paramedics were there with a gurney. >> they take shara and roll her toward the ambulance, but she won't get in. >> she had wedged her hands against the doors. >> and i kept saying, where's -- i have to have his last name. why do you want his last name? i said i have to thank him. and people laughed, but i said, no, i'm not laughing here until you get jerry's last name. >> we walked over and she said, i need your last name. i said my last name is shannon. and she says, oh, they sent an

irishman. >> and i reached up and put my arms around his neck and said, you're my hero. >> they put her in the ambulance, close the door, drove away. >> on the cypress, the rescues have stopped. they say there is no chance that there is anyone left alive. >> in the pre-dawn hours of saturday morning, four days after the earthquake, an engineer is examining the structure to prepare for the day ahead. >> it was like in the dark, and when he was using the flash light, in the process of doing that he thought he saw something move. >> the orange county firefighter chuck nicola is helping on the cypress. he is skeptical about a survivor, but plans are made to reach the car, which is about ten feet in on the lower deck. >> and i could see him, and i didn't think there was somebody alive. >> the front of the car has been crushed flat by a falling beam

and the concrete of the upper deck is laying on the top of the door. >> i reach in there and give kind of a shake and he moves and groans or something, there is like a rush of joy. i said hey, buddy, what is your name? and he's going, buck. but i didn't hear it as buck. i wasn't sure, maybe he was cursing, i don't know. >> the man in the car is saying "buck." it's buck helm, désire's dad. rescuers use the jaws of life to get the door open. >> as we fed him out of the side of the freeway, you could hear cheers. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> 250 miles away, desire is watching tv with her mom and older brothers.

>> when they were pulling out the person on the gurney, he said, those are my tennis shoes. that's my dad. dad had borrowed his tennis shoes. >> we knew it was him, because he convinced us he was a survivor. >> 12-year-old desire now has her chance to apologize. >> and i was like, yes! now i can tell him sorry for the things that i said to him. >> it will be a while before she can talk to him. buck helm is badly injured. >> his most important medical problem was respiratory failure. couldn't breathe "ly. >> severe pain from the crush injuries. kidneys shut down. nerve damage. inability to move his leg, and at least three fractured ribs. >> they had a res pirator in, so he wasn't able to talk, except for blinking his eyes and squeezing his hand. >> i thought maybe i would wait

to tell him i'm sorry, so he could understand what i'm saying. >> the man the media called lucky buck, the one who convinced his family he could survive anything, even this, begins to get better. >> his kidneys woke back up. he was improving. >> i remember them saying he is going to be able to go home. >> up next? >> a turn for the worse. >> tell me what happened 28 days after buck's rescue. come on! let's hide in the attic. no. in the basement. why can't we just get in the running car? are you crazy? let's hide behind the chainsaws. smart. yeah. ok. if you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. it's what you do. this was a good idea. shhhh. be quiet. i'm being quiet. you're breathing on me! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do.

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helm is waging a battle against life threatening injuries. but then, his ex-wife, lauren helm gets a message. >> tell me what happened 28 days after buck's rescue. >> they gave me a beeper. and the beeper went off. and the message was get back to the hospital. the doors were shut. when they finally did open the doors, they walked over to me, sorry.

and they told me that they had lost him. that he was gone. and i still couldn't -- i couldn't believe it. >> buck helm is the 63rd person to die from the earthquake. 12-year-old deseret loses her dad before she can apologize. >> i was really mad at myself for years because i never said sorry. >> the guilt sends her down a painful path, littered with bad decisions. and it ends with no job, her children in the custody of others, and a meth addiction. would you ever have gone down this path if your dad hadn't have died in the aftermath of that quake? >> i don't think so, because i love my dad so much, i know it would have disappointed him, and i always wanted my dad to be happy with me. >> she is now married, sober, and credits her christian faith

with helping her move on. >> you can't kick yourself for the past because it does no good. it makes you miserable. you can't move forward. when i was able to let go of that, we've been really happy. >> as for jerry shannon, he becomes close friends with the woman he dug from the rubble, shair ra cox. so close in fact that by 2009, he's handling her medical decisions. >> really she had no family. we were the closest family that she had. >> you want to up a present? >> sure. >> diabetes is beginning to eat away at her. >> she was having situation problems, she lost her toes, and she lost her foot. >> eventually she gets gang green. >> afraid it would get to her heart, that's when they said we're going to have to cut more off her legs, and we need to tell her. and she said, you know, don't let them do it. no more. >> for the second time, jerry

shannon has sharra cox's life in his hands. this time, it ends differently. you knew she was going to die without that. >> she knew it. and yeah, we knew it. my wife filmed a room full of roses, it's what she loved, and i was talking to her, and she said i don't want you feeling bad. she was patting my hand and said, i just had 20 years on the house, and then about 5:00 that morning, i got a phone call, which i knew at 5:00 in the morning, that she had passed. >> dorothy otto is a medical miracle. first she's crushed on the sigh press and has no fractures, not one. >> they x-rayed me oifr and over and over, and they could find no broken bones. which they did not believe. >> her foot heals. >> they were afraid i'd lose the foot even after all the heroic

efforts of the fire department. >> and she walks normally. she's now a breast cancer survivor too. >> everybody's life has funny parts and bad parts. >> in the years after the earthquake, bill ray's loss of his wife janet tleeds anger about the rescue that never happened. what do you wish the firefighters had done differently that night? >> i had wished that once they cut the hole that they had told me, told us, that there was a fire engulfing the building, and that, you know, we only have a couple minutes. i'd have cut off her leg to get her out of there. everybody, come on. >> time, therapy, and support from a men's group, finally allows bill ray to let go of that anger, and to stop feeling guilty about janet's death. >> it was really around

believing in myself, and accepting the fact that i'm not superman. >> then four years into his second marriage, another tragedy. >> i had woken up, there was a noise, she was breathing erratically, her heart stopped while i was talking to the operator. >> bill ray is once again staring down death, desperately trying to save his wife's life. he gives laurel cpr for 27 minutes. how much of your push to save laurel had to do with any guilt that you might have had about janet? >> a lot. >> doctors didn't think laurel would walk or write or talk again. with bill as her advocate and

care giver, she survives and does all those things. so when people hear your story and they think, man, this guy has had it really rough, he's had an awful, difficult life, and tremendous loss. what do you say to them? >> god, no i haven't. i've had a wonderful life. the real richness in life is the love that you get from those that you embrace the tightest. >> yeah, the weather is great here. >> today, bruce steph fan who narrowly escaped plunging off the bay bridge is back in the bay area. following the quake, he moves east with his wife and takes a job in lower manhattan. >> we worked down in the world trade towers, and my wife worked in one tower, i worked in the other. >> which puts them both incredibly back in the middle of disaster. it's september 11th, 2001. >> there was a bang. and i look over, and there's

glass fleeming pieces of glass going by the window. >> he gets out safely, and his wife -- >> i remember walking, saying, i'm a widower, my wife could be dead. >> but hours later, he reunites with his wife who is unharmed too. do you feel like there's a reason why you survived both of these events? >> i do, and i don't feel like i found it yet. you know, i mean, why me? why me twice? >> get out, get out. >> so what do you want people to take away and to learn from what you've gone through and what you've lived through? >> well, i think that every single moment in life is precious, that it could be taken away from you in a second and you just really appreciate that this is an amaze iing -- sorry. a very amazing short term gift. to appreciate every moment, and to appreciate fellow human

beings, because in the end, all we really have is each other. i'm told you are a man who can help me? some in the 1850s my great, great, great grandfather, emigrated to south america. was reported to die here. but might have been a seeker of utopian dreams. my aunt told stories.