April 19, 1995, started off as a memorable day for Amy Downs, a teller at a credit union inside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. However, the day took a drastic turn when a truck bomb detonated outside the building, killing 168 people in the deadliest homegrown attack on U.S. soil. Downs, who was 28 years old at the time, found herself trapped upside down in her office chair, buried under 10 feet of rubble and pierced with glass. Despite the dark and desperate situation, she prayed for a second chance at life.
Downs screamed for help in the darkness, but no one replied. It wasn’t until firefighters arrived that she felt a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, the firefighters had to evacuate due to the possibility of another bomb going off, leaving Downs behind. As she prepared for the worst, reciting Psalm 23 and finding peace in the darkness, Downs promised to bake chocolate chip cookies for her rescuers. Eventually, after six and a half hours, she was freed from the rubble and taken to the hospital.
Once in the hospital, Downs learned that 18 of her 33 co-workers had been killed in the bombing, causing her immense grief and survivor’s guilt. The community came together in the aftermath, with thousands of people lining up to donate blood within hours of the tragedy. As she recovered, Downs struggled to come to terms with the fact that the attack was carried out by two former U.S. Army buddies, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, with a deep-seated hatred of the federal government.
Downs eventually embraced her second chance at life, losing 200 pounds and completing a full ironman triathlon. She went on to work for the same credit union where she was a teller, serving as president and CEO before retiring. She now works as a full-time speaker and has created a new bucket list, including walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and riding her bicycle across the United States. Downs hopes that viewers of the documentary about the Oklahoma City bombing will learn about the strength of the human spirit and the power of coming together in times of tragedy.
