“A guardian angel”: Colorado woman comes forward in daughter’s quest to find 7 strangers her father helped on 9/11

Courtesy Mercedes Martinez

Emilio Martinez

Joyce Blutt refers to Emilio Martinez arsenic her guardian angel, her Saint Emilio.

Blutt, 74, is 1 of 7 strangers who Martinez drove from the Omaha, Nebraska, airdrome to Denver for escaped connected Sept. 11, 2001, aft their planes were grounded successful the aftermath of the violent attacks.

Martinez died successful 2016, but his daughter, Las Vegas vigor big Mercedes Martinez, put retired a telephone connected societal media past week up of the 20th day of 9/11 looking for the 7 strangers her father’s kindness touched successful the hopes of reminiscing.

When Emilio Martinez’s plane, bound for Denver from Ohio, was grounded astatine the Omaha airport, helium instantly rented the largest van helium could find, scrawled retired that helium was Denver-bound connected a portion of cardboard and gave 7 radical a astir 500-mile thrust location for free.

“I don’t cognize what I was expecting, but I deliberation she filled successful immoderate of the communicative for maine and truly gave maine immoderate closure,” Mercedes Martinez said Tuesday aft talking with Blutt.

Blutt, who lives successful Colorado Springs, heard astir the ngo to find Emilio Martinez’s van passengers aft a loved 1 saw the communicative connected the news.

“I had conscionable told my daughter-in-law the communicative 2 hours earlier arsenic we were talking astir 9/11 and wherever we were, and, definite enough, she saw it soon after,” Blutt said.

Blutt was flying from Denver to Chicago that fateful day, connected the mode to sojourn her parents erstwhile her level was grounded. After wandering the Omaha airdrome trying to fig retired however she would get location — each the rental cars were booked and nary planes were taking disconnected — Blutt called her precocious husband, who told her to person immoderate patience and they would fig thing out.

“Literally, I hung up with him and determination was Mr. Martinez holding up this sign,” Blutt said. “I can’t explicate to anyone however astonishing that was. A guardian angel close there.”

Blutt said radical started flocking to Martinez and his sign, and beauteous soon she on with different pistillate and 5 men began pursuing him to his van.

“There was ne'er a feeling of ‘should I oregon should I not?'” Blutt said. “It was conscionable a miraculous infinitesimal for each of us.”

Once successful the van, Blutt said Martinez tuned into National Public Radio and the passengers began learning much details astir the panic attacks. Blutt said a hush fell implicit the conveyance and the pistillate adjacent to her began shaking.

“Everybody was conscionable sitting there, numb,” Blutt said.

As the minutes and hours ticked by, Blutt said yet radical started sharing tiny details of their lives: whether they were married, had children, what they did for a living.

“Do I retrieve immoderate of their names oregon what they said 20 years later? No,” Blutt said, chuckling. “I’m fortunate if I retrieve what I had for luncheon yesterday.”

They stopped for a bath break, filled up connected gas, and everyone got snacks and drinks for the remainder of the drive, Blutt said.

Because Blutt lived astir an hr from Denver successful Colorado Springs, she told Martinez to driblet her disconnected astatine Park Meadows promenade successful Lone Tree wherever her precocious hubby would beryllium waiting to prime her up.

Blutt has told the communicative of a stranger’s kindness to household implicit the years, and her granddaughter adjacent shared Martinez’s bully deed successful her schoolroom arsenic an illustration of the kinds of impacts 9/11 had connected everyone.

“I deliberation of this antheral each the time,” Blutt said. “I volition ne'er hide him.”

Blutt said she and her existent spouse question to Las Vegas a fewer times a year.

“Joyce told maine erstwhile she recovered retired the level was landing and they didn’t cognize why, she was initially upset due to the fact that she didn’t get the cupful of java she had ordered connected the plane,” Mercedes Martinez said. “I told her the adjacent clip she’s successful Vegas, I’ll bargain her that cupful of java oregon a solid of wine, if she’d prefer. She said she’d instrumentality maine up connected the wine.

“I deliberation my dada would beryllium smiling that we are reconnecting aft each these years.”