THE terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, may have taken place thousands of miles from our shores.

But despite the distance, several Herefordians found themselves caught up in the chaos and confusion that followed the disaster.

Among them were Herefordshire's former High Sherriff, Jo Hilditch, a Ledbury Poetry Festival manager, a teenager on the trip of a lifetime, and a woman desperate to hear of news of her cousin.

As we mark 23 years since the devastating attacks, here are their stories, told in the days that came after the attacks.

The kindness of strangers

The kindness of strangers helped a Herefordshire couple through a week-long ordeal on the fringes of the world's worst terrorist outrage.

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Jo and Ian Hilditch, of Lyonshall, were halfway across the Atlantic headed for Newark, New Jersey, when their aircraft received news of the attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania,

Though the aircraft behind turned back, that carrying the couple continued towards Canada and a re-route to Moncton, New Brunswick – theirs was the last flight of 14 to land at an airport that normally averages one international arrival a day.

The following five days were a 'limbo' of flights scheduled and cancelled, hopes raised then dashed, panic, and lassitude.

But making all this bearable was, said Mrs Hilditch, the 'most extreme generosity and kindness' shown by Moncton to its charges.

It wasn't until September 14 that flights started to leave, but another two days of delays and cancellations was endured until the couple could finally fly back on September 17.

Change of plans

Only a change of plan kept Ledbury Poetry Festival manager Charles Bennett and his wife, Pippa from a sightseeing trip to New York on the day of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre.

As it was, the couple found themselves marooned in the USA for a week with no way home, as all flights out of the country were cancelled as Americans came to terms with the scale of the disaster.

Dr Bennett said: "There were 30,000 people stranded in Boston, including ourselves. "Understandably, it took a long time to speak to British Airways on the phone. After 30 minutes we got through and they told us the earliest flight they could give us was Friday, September 21, a week later than we planned.

"They put us on a two-hour standby for earlier flights but they didn't happen."

The Bennetts were originally due to fly from Logan Airport on Friday, September 14 - the airport from which two of the highjacked planes had taken off.

Dr Bennett said: "This was a very powerful time to be in America, very moving.

"On the day of the attacks themselves, we were in Cape Cod. We had thought about going to New York but had decided not to, fortunately.

"We were driving back from Cape Cod and heard the news on the radio. So we just pulled over and listened for a long time."

The Bennetts were able to come to terms with the catastrophe by staying with friends in Plymouth, New England.

He said: "There was a sense that everyone felt bereaved. This has created more compassion among people, actually."

Dr Bennett said that catching the flight back home from Logan Airport was "a bit scary," not least because of the large number of armed security men with rifles, who were necessary in the wake of the terrorist outrage.

He added: "We're glad to be safe, and back in Ledbury."

Like being on a film set

Hereford teenager Ashley Hammant was on his first trip to New York when he found himself caught up in the horror.

The 19-year-old returned to Hereford in the week following the attack to tell of an horrific first 24 hours that was like 'being on a film set'.

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Minutes from death

Ledbury's Liana Pavlimbey made contact with her cousin after an anxious wait to see if she had been caught up in the World Trade Centre horror.

Mrs Pavlimbey spent three days phoning New York as she tried to find news of relative Daphne Moustaka following the recent terrorist attack.

She finally made contact again on September 14, when Mrs Pavlimbey of the Frydays chip shop, in The Homend, discovered Daphne had witnessed the attack and had only just survived.

Mrs Pavlimbey said of her personal ordeal: "I was still serving people and smiling. But I didn't sleep for three nights."

With husband Loucas, she collected 500 signatures from customers in a book of condolence, posted to then-President Bush.

If her cousin, Daphne Moustaka, had been only minutes late for work on September 11, she would not have survived.

Her parked car was buried under rubble.

Mrs Moustaka worked in the American Express building next to the Twin Towers. She saw the first jet crash into the skyscraper and explode, and felt the power of the second impact, which she said was "like an earthquake".

It took Mrs Moustaka two hours to get to the ground floor. She then faced a nine-hour walk to her home in the Estoria region of New York.