This Young Man's Bandanna Is Now A Symbol Of Hope After His Courageous Actions On 9/11

Many people have something they carry with them everywhere they go. Maybe a bookmark or a picture. I have a necklace I never take off. These items we carry with us are something we cherish and that are important to us. We don't really consider what other people may think of them because they doesn't really have to mean anything to anyone else. Until that thing you kept dear to your heart suddenly becomes something that brings people hope when they see it. For one boy's parents and 12 people he met one day, his red bandanna became a symbol of hope and life.

When Welles Crowther was six years old, he started wearing a red bandanna.

His father, Jefferson, gave him a white handkerchief for show and a red one for when he needed to blow his nose.

Welles always had the bandanna with him.

He wore it under his helmet at every football game.

He was a team player in life and sports.

His dreams involved being a firefighter, but he also wanted to work on Wall Street.

So after graduating in 1999, Welles became an equity trader.

His office was on the 104th floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

On September 11th, 2001, Welles called his mother after the first plane hit the North Tower.

"Mom, this is Welles. I want you to know that I'm okay."

Welles and roughly 200 people were on the 78th floor, waiting to get on the elevator to evacuate.

At 9:02 a.m., the second plane hit the South Tower, cutting through diagonally from the 78th to 84th floor.

"We heard this man's voice say, 'I found the stairs, follow me. Only help the one you can help.' It was the way he said it. And we just got up and followed."

Ling Young was on the same floor as Welles at the time of the attacks. She says among the fire, dead bodies, and panic, Welles emerged confident and eager to help.

Welles led people down the only functional stairwell to the 61st floor.

He left them in the care of firefighters, who took them to the 40th floor where the elevators were working. Welles, however, left the group and went back up the 17 floors to get more people.

At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed.

Six months later, Welles' body was found in the rubble next to uniformed firefighters.

Two months after his body was found, Welles' parents were reading the New York Times.

There was a feature on the last 102 minutes before the tower fell.

A woman, Judy Wein, had been saved from the South Tower.

She spoke about a mysterious man who wore a red bandanna. Welles' mother, Allison, knew it was her son.

Allison sent this photo to Judy and Ling.

They confirmed it was her son who saved them. As many as 12 people are alive today because of Welles.

In 2006, Welles was named a New York City firefighter.

His picture also hangs in the firehouse in his hometown of Nyack, NY. It is the last picture firefighters see before they answer a call.

Welles' parents lost a son and their best friend.

But he is remembered every day.

Him and his red bandanna.

Main and collage image via YouTube / Barry O'Brien