American survivor who was shot but escaped the Bataclan terror atrocity in Paris had also survived the 9/11 attacks in New York


  • Matthew, 36, was shot in the leg during the Bataclan massacre that left 89 people dead
  • He was rescued by Le Monde journalist Daniel Psenny who was shot in the arm as he dragged the American to his apartment
  • Matthew 'sprinted across half on Manhattan' after arriving to work at the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11

y ISABEL HUNTER FOR MAILONLINE


PUBLISHED: 02:38 EST, 23 November 2015 | UPDATED: 16:42 EST, 23 November 2015

An American man who ran for his life 'through half of Manhattan' when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in 2001 has survived another massacre after being shot during the assault on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

The 36-year-old man, who has only been identified as Matthew, managed to crawl to safety despite having been shot in the leg by ISIS militants who stormed the Eagles of Death Metal concert and massacred 89 people.

On hearing gunshots, which unlike many others he recognised instantly - 'Perhaps it's my American culture', he said - he ran for the exit.



Survivor: Matthew, 36, was shot in the calf during the Bataclan massacre in Paris on Friday 13th. He managed to escape the concert hall and was dragged to safety by French journalist Daniel Psenny. It's not the first time Matthew has survived a terror attack - he was at the foot of the South Tower of the New York's World Trade Centre when the first plane hit on 9/11



Le Monde journalist Daniel Psenny filmed the dramatic scenes from his apartment across the street from the Bataclan concert hall. The pregnant woman was crying for help whilst desperately holding on to the window ledge of the theatre

But he was shot in the calf and fell, surrounded by bodies.

Slowly, he managed to inch towards safety each time the attackers reloaded their Kalashnikovs.

He said: 'I inched forward centimetre by centimetre. At one point, I saw the ledge of the exit at arm's reach. I was able to grip it with one finger, then the other.'

As he emerged from the hall, and collapsed exhausted onto the street, he was rescued by Le Monde journalist Daniel Psenny, who had been filming the attack from his flat across the street.

Mr Psenny had already caught footage of a pregnant woman trying to escape the carnage, and had first started filming without knowing what had happened.

Thinking the shooting was over, Mr Psenny opened his front door and spotted Matthew lying on the pavement. He ran over to help him and with the help of another man dressed in black, dragged him to his apartment.



Le Monde journalist Daniel Psenny was shot in the arm as he helped Matthew to safety in his apartment building, which was directly opposite the Bataclan theatre. Despite their injuries, the two men had to wait for three hours before they could leave the area and get to hospital. Above, Daniel and Matthew are united for the first time since the attack - they were treated in the same hospital just three rooms apart



A large crowd of desperate people began to pour out of the double doors behind the back of the Bataclan theatre in Paris



Bodies of the dead lie in the Parisian streets outside the Bataclan theatre in which up to 80 people were executed


Rescue workers desperately attend to several of the seriously injured members of the crowd from the Bataclan attack

'I was playing dead,' Matthew told Le Monde. '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,' he said.

But just as Mr Psenny was dragging Matthew through the doorway of his building, he was shot in the upper arm.
'I felt something warm running down me,' said Matthew, 'then I heard bad words, and again, shots.'

Mr Psenny said he was in regular contact by phone with colleagues, police, and firefighters, but the area had been cordoned off and they were trapped.


Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes (pictured on stage minutes before the attack) said fans hid in his dressing room after the initial slaughter, but were found by the killers who then murdered them all


French fire brigade members help an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall following fatal shootings in Paris, France

The two men relied on neighbours and the advice of a doctor over the phone to stem their bleeding.
'The bleeding wouldn't stop. Matthew was very pale and vomiting, but we never lost consciousness,' Mr Psenny said.

Having lost his phone inside the concert hall, it took Matthew two hours to remember his wife's phone number, who had by chance stayed at home to look after their two children as they had been unable to find a babysitter.Terror attack victims fle


Matthew had just arrived to work at the Twin Towers when they were struck by Al Qaeda terrorists on September 11

Amazingly, the pair were reunited in hospital and were being treated just three rooms apart and on seeing each other promised to share 'a glass, if not a bottle', once they had fully recovered.

However, it was not the first time that Matthew had escaped from a terrorist attack.

He was at the foot of the South Tower of the World Trade Center on his way to a meeting when the first plane struck the North Tower on September 11, 2001.

'I sprinted across half of Manhattan,' he said. 'But what I went through in the Bataclan was 1,000 times worse,' he said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3sVLaym8g
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook