NEW ORLEANS — More than 100 construction workers were inside the Hard Rock Hotel when it collapsed October 12.
One of those men hasn't been able to escape the destruction — the events play over and over in his head. Trey Fournier, 27, is now sharing his story of survival.
"God, get us out of here"
"I wanted to see the end of this, be completely built, and we're never going to get a chance to," Fournier said about the construction project.
Fournier has been an ironworker for four years.
"We always say we're the backbone to the building," he said.
He was excited to join crews on the construction site in June as an ironworker with Hub Steel.
"We're family. We're building something together," he said.
It's the biggest job he's ever been a part of.
"I love my job," Fournier said.
On October 12, Fournier was working on the 11th floor. Around 9:12 a.m., he heard a loud nose and felt the building shake.
"Felt like an earthquake going off," he said. "I never heard a noise like that on a job site."
"The first thing I thought; it felt like someone was chipping concrete above us, but it got louder louder and louder and we saw dust coming down and my guys took off running and the second I turned, the building was collapsing like dominoes. The second I ran, it started falling, like it was going to fall on me."
The roof above him barely missed him.
"All I think in my mind is Jesus, God, get us out of here. Hold this building, get us out of there," he said.
Fournier ran to scaffolding to get down to the 8th floor. After that, he claims only one ladder brought workers to the 7th floor.
"There's only one escape ladder," Fournier said. "Everybody out there was terrified, in fear."
He made it to the ground.
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"I'm just glad I'm alive"
"It's not something I thought would happen, you know? I mean I love my job, I take pride in my job, my guys are my family," he said.
He remembers looking for a coworker and friend who he calls Goodie.
"My guy was stuck up there and I was calling out someone to get him," he said. "I looked around and was like 'wait, where's Goodie.'"
According to Fournier, Goodie made it out but did have to undergo surgery.
"The first person I called was my dad, let him know I'm alive," he said. "I'm just glad I'm alive.
A week after the collapse, Fournier still doesn't deny his passion for his job, but now he's taking a step back.
"I keep motivating myself everyday, pushing myself to be a hard worker because I see a future for myself in this and then when this all happened Saturday, it put a pause," he said.
What he wants now is answers.
"I want to know what exactly went wrong. That's all I want to know. That's what we're asking," he said. "We've been through something that was horrifying and we don't want it to happen again."
RELATED: Live: Hard Rock Hotel collapse site
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