The final photograph of a victim killed in 9/11 has been placed on the memorial wall for the 2,977 people who lost their lives that day.
Antonio Dorsey Pratt, 43, had been working as a cook in the canteen of an investment bank on the 101st floor of the North Tower on the day of the tragedy.
As Antonio, who went by Tony, had no images of himself online, staff at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum used a group photograph of him alongside his colleagues - carefully, enlarging, cropping and retouching the image to create the portrait. You can see staff adding the image to the wall here:
Staff from the museum have spent almost 16-years creating the memorial wall, which was finally finished late last month.
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Memorial CEO Alice Greenwald said: “In order to focus on his beautiful face, a lot of work had to be done to zero in and enlarge and enlarge to the point where it could be appropriate for the scale of the installation.”
She said the removal of an oak tree placeholder to make way for the photo put an end to a ‘process that began almost 16 years ago, when we began work on just even imagining what the 9/11 Memorial and Museum would be and what it would contain’.
Mary Fetchet, director of Voices Centre for Resilience, the organisation that provided the portrait, said: “This is a chapter in the sense that we were able to provide the last missing photograph for the exhibit.”
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The 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which is situated between where the Twin Towers had been, has a display containing enlarged photos of the 2,977 people killed in the four Al Qaeda attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93.
Antonio was survived by his wife, Asmareli Soga, whose teenage children he helped raise.
He was the 1,569th victim to be identified, with his remains finally being recovered in September 2004.
Speaking at the time, his widow said: “Now maybe he can be in peace and we can have his funeral. It’s a miracle. God is good.”
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She added: “But after so many years, all of a sudden, I feel more hurt. This is opening up old wounds again. The pain never goes away. It stays with you.”
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677
Topics: US News
Claire Reid