A man who was captured fleeing the collapsing World Trade Center in a powerful photograph of the 9/11 devastation has died of COVID-19.
The family of Stephen Cooper, an electrical engineer, revealed the 78-year-old New Yorker died on March 28 after contracting the virus.
Cooper, who resided part-time in Florida's Delray Beach neighborhood, was among the 138 people who died in Palm Beach County within the first month of the pandemic.
The iconic photograph has become a prominent image associated with the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Snapped by Associated Press photojournalist Suzanne Plunkett, the picture - which captures Cooper and several other men desperately fleeing the falling South Tower - was published by newspapers around the world. It is now featured in the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York.
Cooper was 60 years old when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four aircrafts in the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history.
Two of the planes - American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 - crashed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. Less than two hours later, both towers collapsed.
Debris and resulting fires caused the complete or partial collapse of all other buildings in the World Trade Center complex, and damaged ten other large surrounding structures.
The third plane was flown into the Pentagon - the Virginia-based headquarters of the US Department of Defence - while the fourth, initially directed toward Washington DC, crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft.
The attacks resulted in 2977 fatalities, more than 25,000 injuries, and significant long-term health consequences. It also caused at least US$10 billion in damage to infrastructure and property.
In the photograph, Cooper is seen clutching a manilla envelope as he sprints away from the plumes of grey smoke billowing from the crumbling World Trade Center.
Cooper was initially unaware that the photograph was taken, says his partner of 33 years, Janet Rashes.
"All of a sudden, he's looking in Time magazine one day and he sees himself and says, 'Oh my God. That’s me'. He was amazed. Couldn't believe it," she recounted to the Palm Beach Post.
Rashes said Cooper had been delivering documents near the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11 when he heard an officer yell: "You have to run."
Each anniversary of the tragedy, Cooper would go looking for that issue of Time, his granddaughter Jessica, 27, told local media.
A longtime friend said Cooper was proud of the photograph and liked to show it off at gatherings and social events.
Suzanne Plunkett revealed to the Palm Beach Post that she had been in contact with two of the men in her iconic photograph, but she could never reach Cooper.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Bronx-born Cooper served stateside with the Army in the Vietnam War and worked for the New York City Transit Authority for many years.
He became a beloved and prominent figure in the Edgemere neighbourhood of Queens, where he owned a property for much of his life. He frequently participated in protests, local politics and community groups.
Cooper had been suffering with poor health prior to contracting COVID-19, undergoing brain surgery in October. Rashes told local media that she never saw her partner again after he was picked up by Delray Beach paramedics on March 23.
He died five days later.
