American Who Escaped the Bataclan Theater During Paris Attacks Also Survived 9/11

The man says he "sprinted across half of Manhattan" to safety on 9/11, but the Bataclan violence was much worse.

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A 36-year-old American man who was shot in the leg during the horrific massacre at the Bataclan theater in Paris earlier this month also survived the tragedy of 9/11 in New York. "I was playing dead," the man told France’s Le Monde, according to the Huffington Post. "When I felt someone dragging me by the arms, I didn’t even look up. I said, or at least in my head, 'I love you, my angel.'"

Identified simply as "Matthew," the man was reportedly dragged to safety by a French journalist named Daniel Psenny and "another unidentified man." Psenny was ultimately shot in the arm while closing the theater’s lobby doors, adding that he was simply acting "instinctively." The three men then took shelter in Psenny’s flat as authorities started to sweep the area, which had just suffered one of the most devastating events in the city’s history.

Matthew revealed that he "sprinted across half of Manhattan" to safety on 9/11, though he was originally in the street below the World Trade Center went the first plane struck. However, according to Matthew, the events in Paris were "1,000 times worse." Upon finding shelter in Psenny's apartment after escaping the Bataclan, Matthew was so shocked by what he had just experienced that he took two hours to remember to call his wife. Both men are currently recovering at a local hospital.

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