Plaintiffs' Statements   Tara Bane Clara Chirchirillo Grace Godshalk Fiona Havlish Theresann Lostrangio Ellen Saracini Russa Steiner   Statement of Fiona Havlish   Good afternoon. Thank you for coming today. My name is Fiona Havlish. I am the wife of Donald G. Havlish, Jr. My husband was a senior vice president for AON Corporation. He worked as a Benefit Consultant on the 101st floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He had worked for AON for 21 years. He worked in New York since July 11, 1977. In addition, Don had a background in philosophy and law. He loved collecting wildlife art and sculptures. He loved his job, working in New York and, above all, he loved his family. When his first and only daughter was born 4 years ago he changed his schedule in order to be home early enough to see her each day. He called her his "little miracle." Don left at 6:00 am each morning and returned home between 7:00 and 8:00pm each night. On 9/11/01 I had just dropped our daughter off at the babysitter and was driving to work when my phone rang. It was my father and he was crying. I begged him to take a deep breath and get some words out. All he could say was "Don - Trade Center - Plane." I hung up, pulled over and tried to call Don -- no answer. I went to one of my patient's home and he let me in. We put on the TV in time to see a plane going into a tower; they said it was the South Tower. I did not realize it was Don's Tower because I only knew the Towers as 1 & 2. I left and picked up my eldest daughter at school. She was sobbing and crying because the school had just announced it over the intercom. I arrived home at 9:45 am. My daughter checked the caller ID and told me that Don had called at 8:51 am. I grabbed the phone and listened to the message. He stated that there had been an accident in Tower 1 but that he was OK and would call me on my cell phone. He never did call, and he never came through the front door that night or any night since. I tried desperately to call him using both my home phone and my cell phone but was unable to get through. I had every TV on in the house. At one point, I sat down to try to calm down just in time to see the South Tower collapse. I went numb at that point. I still did not know which Tower he was in, and then the North Tower collapsed. I began calling AON, family and any number that came across the TV screen. At 12:30pm that day, I took my 4 year old daughter to her first day of school ever. I then met with a minister whom I had never met, but who has become my salvation, to discuss what to tell my daughter if Don never returned home. For the next two weeks I had hope. All I did for 12 - 14 hours per day was to make phone calls and do whatever had to be done. My nephew, sister-in-law, older children and my community helped me at every turn. My nephew and friends went to New York to pass out pictures, turn in DNA samples and check the hospitals. To the best of my knowledge they still have not found Don. Our daughter cries on and off that she misses daddy. My older children, Don's step-children, miss him terribly. He was a positive guide in their lives and a loving step-father. Don is missed by his family, friends, co-workers and clients. He always treated everyone equally with integrity, honor and at times humor. Through this horrendous experience I have found out how much I love my country and how proud I am to be an American citizen, it is an honor. For this reason, I have no wish to bring a lawsuit against American or domestic persons, businesses or corporations for this craven attack. My husband lived his life with honesty. We believed that each one of us is responsible for his or her own actions and that is what we taught the children. I am continuing this belief. That is why I encouraged my friends to join me in bringing this lawsuit. Our goal is simple: we want to prevent all those responsible for our losses from ever inflicting such pain on others. We seek to deprive them of the financial means to ever commit such acts again. This is not a lawsuit about financial recovery. It is a lawsuit about financial deprivation. I will do whatever I can to bankrupt all terrorists, those that harbor terrorists and those that help the terrorists. In closing, let me say that I am proud to stand here with my friends and say with one voice that we are fighting back against terrorism and that we will not let them win. Thank you. Fiona Havlish February 19, 2002         Return to Home Page | Site Design by Ravine Design & Advertising