Firefighter heads to US to honour 9/11 colleagues
BBCA firefighter is travelling to the United States to take part in a challenge to remember the crews who died responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks 25 years ago.
Bristol Airport firefighter Lexi Grant, 27, is doing a stair climb at the Atlanta Braves stadium on Saturday, covering a distance equivalent to the height of the 110 floors of the World Trade Centre's Twin Towers.
She will wear her full kit and carry the name and photograph of one of the 343 New York firefighters who died on 11 September 2001.
Grant was only two-years-old when hijackers flew jets into the two skyscrapers, and said she could not imagine what it would have been like having to climb so many floors and try to save people.
UK firefighters were invited by the American organisers to lead the climb and carry ceremonial steel from the Twin Towers during the opening ceremony.
A total of 343 firefighters from the UK will aim to fundraise for three charities, two based in the UK and one in the US. Each team hopes to raise £3,430.
Grant said she is honoured to have been selected and is expecting a tough challenge in a hot and humid Atlanta, with her uniform weighing more than 10kg.
"It's a fire suit, so it's thick, and as soon as you put that on with the heat, you are going to be sweating," she said.
Antony Nash is her crew manager at Bristol Airport. He said Grant's determination will "carry her through".
He said firefighters in the city and in New York have a "special relationship" with each other.
Ever since the attacks, crews from the US have come to the West Country for "R&R", rest and recuperation.
A bi-annual golf tournament called the Cider Cup, featuring teams from both countries, is also now held.
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