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Andrew Knox had a bright future ahead of him but, like the 2,995 other people who were killed on September 11 in 2001, it was tragically cut short.
Originally from Adelaide, Andrew Knox, 29, was working as an environmental architect on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into it.
Fifteen years after his death, close friend, Kirsten Andrews, told SBS about the big future Mr Knox had in front of him.
"He was pretty engaged in politics and the union movement as well. To be honest, I always assumed he would run for Parliament and he had enough support in the Labor party to do that, if that had been his ambition one day," Ms Andrews said.
"He was the most gregarious and fun person I knew. He was kind, he was loyal, and he was a good friend.”
Kirsten Andrews met Mr Knox on a university exchange to the United States in 1992, almost a decade before the tragedy.
Kirsten Andrews said the pain of losing one of her closest friends has remained with her since the terror attacks in 2001. (Supplied) Source: Supplied
“We travelled all around the States together, with other exchange students. We lived in an international student dorm that we really enjoyed and met friends from all over the world. People that I'm still friends with,” she said.
Ms Andrews was working as a media adviser for former Labor and Opposition leader, Kim Beazley, at the time of the attacks.
She had two friends in New York City on September 11, 2001, one being Andrew Knox.
“To this day, I don't want to see those images, I don't want to see people falling."
“One of my friends, I found out from her parents that she was safe and well. I rung them in Adelaide and then, when I couldn't contact Andrew by mid-morning, I tracked down his brother Stuart, who told me that he had been in the building and was missing and it was then that we first knew that he was probably gone,” Ms Andrews explained.
"I assumed that that was confirmation. I took that as definite that Andrew was gone. It never occurred to me for one moment that he would be alive and I didn't hold out any hope as I knew some people did."
Ms Andrews thinks frequently of her friend, 15 years on from the tragedy.
"Anyone who's known grief knows what it's like to miss someone you love on big days and important days. For me, I really miss Andrew in September, but I really miss him at Christmas time, when we used to usually go back to Adelaide and have some long lunch at the Grange Beach and not be able to drive home."
“I still can't help but think about New York and every September, how much I miss him.”
It is a grief, Ms Andrews said, that makes it difficult for her to hear or think about the attacks.
Kirsten Andrews said she believed her friend Andrew Knox was destined for a bright future. (Supplied) Source: Supplied
“To this day, I don't want to see those images, I don't want to see people falling. I don't want to see the buildings come down and I don't want to see those buildings on fire,” she told SBS.
"In 2001, it felt like the nation was grieving for him, but nobody was grieving in the same (way) as those of us who knew and loved him best.”
While she said she has tried over the years not to speak on Mr Knox’s behalf, Kirsten Andrews believes he would have wanted a kinder response to the events that killed him.
"I like to think that he would have been proud of the way some of us have responded, which is to try to make the world a better place, where these things don't occur,” she said.
“I think that he would have been distressed to see the war that resulted and the way that the lack of inclusion and interfaith dialogue that has been part of the world politics since that time."
This is the first year Ms Andrews is marking the anniversary in New York City.
