Come from Far Away: Interview with those who really experienced it

For those who have not seen or heard the musical, “Come From Away” tells the story of some travelers whose planes were diverted due to the closure of US airspace due to the September 11 attacks.

In Gander, a small town in Newfoundland and Labrador, residents opened their homes and hearts to those stranded on planes trying desperately to contact family and friends to let them know they were safe. “Come From Away” is about their adventures.

Our first “Come From Awayer” gave me a child’s perspective on this life-changing event.

Cheslyn Hay’s Luke Taylor was on a trip to visit Disneyland with his family. Even though he was only 9 years old, Luke still has vivid memories of the incident.

Luke said: “I remember flying over America and a lot of people screaming. I was watching a movie and the pilot announced a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. I was so young that I thought the word terrorist actually meant tourist and I thought ‘well we’re all tourists’ and I continued watching my movie!”

“We were then told the airspace was closed, there wasn’t enough fuel to return to Heathrow and they were trying to find somewhere to land. Obviously there were a lot of planes in the sky having the same problem,” Luke said.

“We were told we were going to Canada and that it was a very small airport, but they would do their best to land us. That was Gander airport. Luckily, we were one of the first large planes to crash. Despite this, we were stuck on the plane for a long time while they figured out where to go. Finally permission was granted and we were taken in yellow school buses to a children’s camp in the forest. Only a handful of planes allowed people to disembark, the rest had to stay on the planes,” Luke continued.

“We all gathered in a place that looked like city hall. “We weren’t allowed to take luggage, but we were given a Virgin Atlantic bag with duvets and basic toiletries and a dorm-like room with bunk beds,” he said. “We were in the same clothes for about four days.”

“There were so many people there to help and often a school bus full of McDonalds would come to feed us,” she laughed! It must have been heaven for a nine-year-old boy!

“I also remember because it was a camp, there was a large grassy area, a forest and a huge lake, so they gave us sports equipment to keep us busy. They didn’t let us see what really happened, so none of us were any the wiser. This was before anyone really had a telephone, so we didn’t really know anything.

“Then they said come late at night and pack up because we’re going back to Heathrow now. Everyone had to go. If we all didn’t go, no one would go. Of course, they could not unload all the luggage, but more importantly, there could have been other terrorists on the planes.”

Luke has fond memories of the people of Gander. “They were amazing, just as memorable as the actual event,” he said. “There were a lot of kids who went to Disney and were disappointed, but people played with us, kept us busy and were very kind. “Some of these people stayed up for days to help us,” he said fondly.

His family became friends with another family, which helped because they were able to understand what each other was going through.

Luke did not return to Gander but landed in Newfoundland. “I think my family might want to go back because they remember a lot more than I do,” he said.

And the good news is that Luke and his family went to “Mickey Mouse Land” the following year!

Meanwhile, when Jason Griffiths, from Kingswinford, Wall Heath, and his then-girlfriend, now wife Louise, headed to the Big Apple for a surprise trip for Jason’s 21st birthday, their plane was less than an hour outside the city. directed.

Louise told me: “I worked at WH Smith all summer to save money for the trip and I was actually going to book tickets for the Sunday before and if we had gone then we would have actually been in New York when the tragedy occurred.” .” Looks like fate stepped in and Jason and Louise were supposed to fly away and stay safe after a while.

“Even though we were young and probably a little naive at the time, when they announced the closure of US airspace we were really concerned because our first thought was that the plane had been hijacked,” Jason said.

“The plane, which was diverted to Gander, remained on the runway for another 12 hours before we landed. Meanwhile, the news started to come. “We found out there was a lady on our flight whose son was a firefighter in New York and she was dying to know if he was okay,” Jason continued.

When Jason watches the show, I think he will be very impressed by its story because it forms part of the story.

They then spent four nights sleeping on the floor or in army bunks at the Elms Lodge, which Jason describes as “kind of a working man’s club.”

“The people of Gander were amazing. From the moment we landed, they brought blankets, homemade food and drinks, we didn’t pay anything. “It was all donated,” he said.

Louise told me: “There was a man who ran a bar inside the mansion and he could barely get home to sleep. They were always making sure we were all OK. They organized for us to go in shifts to a hotel there so we could shower.”

And people from all walks of life were stranded. “We babysat Woody Harrelson’s kids while we were there because his wife and kids were also diverted elsewhere and staying at a boarding house,” Jason said.

Jason continued: “We sat outside in the sun talking and drinking and made lifelong friends who we have stayed with ever since. “A friend of mine named Kev lives in Queens and we took the kids to meet him last year.”

It was Kev who suggested Jason and Louise watch the show as it was seen on Broadway.

The couple want their own children, 15-year-old Orson and 12-year-old Esme, to know about their mother and father’s adventures, so the whole family has tickets to the Saturday Matinee performance of the show downtown and are very curious about them. Move towards it.

I can’t wait to see what local “Come From Awayers” think of the show and whether it evokes emotions after all these years. I also put them in touch with each other so they can reminisce and share this experience of a lifetime.

“Come From Away” is at Wolverhampton Grand Theater from 5-9 November. For tickets visit grandtheatre.co.uk or call 01902 429212.