Oklahoma City bombing survivor was ‘getting ready to die’ after being trapped in 10 feet of rubble

April 19, 1995, started disconnected arsenic a beauteous outpouring time for Amy Downs, a teller astatine a recognition national wrong the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building successful Oklahoma City.

"I retrieve the reddish buds were blooming," Downs recalled to Fox News Digital. "I was truthful excited. I was getting acceptable to adjacent my precise archetypal house. I don’t deliberation I did immoderate enactment successful that archetypal hr of the day. I was moving astir talking to each my friends astir the house. 

"And past I was looking astatine my watch, thinking, ‘Oh gosh, it’s astir 9 o’clock. I’m going to get successful trouble. I had amended get backmost to my desk.’"

Downs flew past her boss. A co-worker who was six months large sat beside her. Downs asked if she needed anything.

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Amy Downs is speaking retired successful National Geographic's "Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day In America." (National Geographic/Brandon Widener)

"I don’t cognize if the words adjacent came retired of my rima oregon not, due to the fact that that’s erstwhile the weaponry went disconnected and everything went black," Downs said.

It was 30 years agone erstwhile a motortruck weaponry detonated extracurricular a national gathering successful America’s heartland, sidesplitting 168 radical successful the deadliest homegrown onslaught connected U.S. soil. Downs and different survivors and witnesses are speaking retired successful a caller National Geographic docuseries, "Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day successful America."

April 19, 1995, started arsenic a beauteous outpouring time for Amy Downs. Then her beingness everlastingly changed. (National Geographic/News9 Oklahoma City)

"I deliberation it’s truthful important to retrieve what happened and the lessons that were learned," Downs said of wherefore she chose to travel forward.

A rubble heap and dense harm are disposable astatine the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building connected the day of April 19, 1995, successful Oklahoma City, Okla. (National Geographic/Danny Atchley)

Downs was 28 years aged erstwhile she recovered herself trapped upside down successful her bureau chair. She had fallen 3 floors down and was buried nether 10 feet of rubble. Whenever she gasped for air, it burned down to her chest. Her assemblage was pierced with glass.

"I retrieve proceeding roaring and screaming, and this almighty rushing sensation, similar I was falling," said Downs. "I recovered retired I had fallen. … I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see. It was precise hard to breathe. I had nary thought what had happened. I conscionable knew it was bad."

Firefighters ran done heavy fume toward the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. (National Geographic/Danny Atchley)

Downs screamed for help, but nary 1 replied. In the darkness, she heard silence. Suddenly, aft what felt similar an eternity, determination was a abrupt commotion of firefighters. One said, "Let’s divided up. Let’s look for the daycare babies."

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Edye Raines and her mother, Kathy Sanders, recognize the blast occurred successful the gathering wherever America’s Kids Daycare is located. (National Geographic/News9 Oklahoma City)

They were referring to the children astatine the America’s Kids Daycare wrong the building.

"I was confused," said Downs. "I thought, ‘Why are they looking for the daycare babies here? The daycare is connected the 2nd floor, and we’re connected the 3rd floor.' I had nary thought that we were astatine the bottommost of what was erstwhile this nine-story building."

Rescue workers hunt done the rubble looking for survivors.  (Roman Bas/AFP via Getty Images)

Fire Chief Mike Shannon heard Down’s cries for help. Just arsenic helium was astir to spell get her, his unit learned determination was a anticipation of different weaponry that was astir to spell off. It forced them to instantly evacuate, leaving Downs behind. 

District Fire Chief Mike Shannon heard Amy Downs' cries for help.  (National Geographic)

Shannon was determined to enactment with Downs, but chap firefighters refused to permission him behind. In the documentary, Shannon described however helium heard the echoes of Downs sobbing, begging him to prevention her, arsenic helium was being rushed out.

At that moment, Downs believed her beingness was coming to an end.

Mike Shannon recalled proceeding Amy Downs' pleas for help.  (National Geographic/Brandon Widener)

"I present knew it had been a bomb, and it looked similar determination was different one," she said. "I was getting acceptable to die. I prayed, oregon possibly you could telephone it bargained with God. I kept promising God anything, conscionable to beryllium capable to live. I prayed for a 2nd chance. My world was that I was 28 years aged and getting acceptable to die, and I’ve ne'er truly lived. I had a batch of regrets astir however I had not been living."

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Panicked onlookers, survivors and archetypal responders wide the country aft the menace of a imaginable 2nd explosive instrumentality successful the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building April 19, 1995, successful Oklahoma City. (National Geographic/News9 Oklahoma City)

In betwixt tears, she began to recite portions of Psalm 23 to comfortableness herself.

"The lone happening I could retrieve was, ‘I walked done the vale of the shadiness of death,’" said Downs. "I couldn’t retrieve what came next. I thought that was awful. And then, of each the weird things to do, a opus popped into my caput that we utilized to sing increasing up successful church. I started singing this song, and I felt peace. This was the archetypal clip that I thought I was astatine bid with what was getting acceptable to happen."

Luke Franey, who had conscionable escaped done the rubble, is led away. (National Geographic/News9 Oklahoma City)

There was nary 2nd bomb. Once the firefighters realized this, they rushed backmost in. Shannon remembered to look for Downs. When Downs heard the sounds of men again, she promised successful the acheronian to cook them, anyone, cocoa spot cookies if they could prevention her.

Amy Downs speaking to her parent from the infirmary furniture aft her rescue.  (National Geographic/KFOR-TV)

Six and a fractional hours later, she was free.

"I was successful the infirmary for astir 8 days," she said. "The biggest wounded was my leg, which had been divided open. My bony was intact, but the limb was open. But the hardest portion was uncovering retired that 18 of my 33 co-workers were killed. … Grief is thing that I couldn’t comprehend. Dealing with the grief and trauma was the hard part. The injuries were nothing."

President Bill Clinton departs the White House briefing country successful Washington, D.C., April 19, 1995, aft gathering with reporters to sermon the bombing. (National Geographic/Marcy Nighswander/The Associated Press)

Downs was 1 of the past survivors to beryllium pulled from the rubble aft the bombing, which killed 168 people, including 19 children. Nearly 700 others were injured.

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The Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people, including 19 children. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Downs struggled with survivor’s guilt.

"I retrieve connected the eighth time successful the hospital, they recovered my champion friend’s body," she tearfully said. "She had babe girls astatine home."

District Fire Chief Mike Shannon confers with a workfellow astatine the tract of the bombed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building successful Oklahoma City. (National Geographic/Danny Atchley)

As Downs grieved, the assemblage banded together. In conscionable 72 hours aft the bombing, 7,000 radical waited successful enactment to donate blood, FOX25 reported.

An Oklahoma City firefighter walks adjacent explosion-damaged cars connected the northbound broadside of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building successful Oklahoma City aft a car weaponry detonation April 19, 1995, successful Oklahoma City. (National Geographic/Jim Argo/USA Today Network)

"We person our differences, and differences are not a atrocious thing," she said. "But I deliberation it’s chill erstwhile we cognize erstwhile to enactment speech those differences and travel unneurotic for good."

Downs was inactive successful the ICU erstwhile she saw a radical of nurses glued to a tv screen. It was revealed that the bombing was orchestrated by 2 erstwhile U.S. Army buddies, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. 

Timothy McVeigh is pictured sitting connected his car portion helium was selling anti-government bumper stickers astatine Mount Carmel, Waco, during the ATF/FBI standoff with the Branch Davidians successful April 1993. (National Geographic/Michelle Rauch/Courtesy FBI Multimedia)

They shared a deep-seated hatred of the national authorities fueled by the bloody raid connected the Branch Davidian spiritual sect adjacent Waco, Texas, and a standoff successful the mountains of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, that killed a 14-year-old boy, his parent and a national agent.

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Timothy McVeigh is escorted retired of the Noble County Courthouse successful Perry, Okla., to beryllium transferred to Tinker AFB for his arraignment April 21, 1995. (National Geographic/News9 Oklahoma City)

"When I recovered retired that it was an American, not lone that, but idiosyncratic who besides served successful our subject … I struggled with that," she said. "I could not wrapper my encephalon astir that. My begetter is from the Greatest Generation. He lied astir his property erstwhile helium was 17 years aged to combat World War II. It conscionable didn’t adhd up. How could you beryllium an American? How could you service our country? How could you bash this?"

According to the documentary, Downs aboriginal faced McVeigh successful court.

Timothy McVeigh was executed successful 2001. (Getty Images)

"It was precise disturbing," she said, shuddering. "He astir seemed arrogant of it."

Terry Nichols was convicted of being an accomplice to Timothy McVeigh successful the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. (Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)

McVeigh was executed by lethal injection successful 2001. He was 33. Nichols, present 70, is serving beingness successful situation without the anticipation of parole.

Downs was acceptable to clasp her 2nd accidental astatine life. She went from a 355-pound "couch potato" to losing 200 pounds and completing a afloat ironman triathlon. She went connected to enactment for the aforesaid recognition union, present called Allegiance Credit Union, wherever she served arsenic president and CEO.

Amy Downs said, aft her rescue, she was determined to crook her beingness around. (National Geographic/Danny Atchley)

"I’d flunked retired of assemblage due to the fact that I couldn’t walk a mathematics class," she said. "But I was precise fortunate to person bosses who mentored maine and believed successful me. … I had promised God that I would ne'er unrecorded my beingness the aforesaid if I survived, and I meant that. … I went backmost to college, got my degree, did each the things. … And conscionable this week, I retired. So, I decided to motorboat a caller chapter."

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Mike Shannon is featured successful the National Geographic docuseries "Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day successful America." (National Geographic/Brandon Widener)

Today, Downs is simply a full-time speaker. She besides created a caller bucket list. She and her sister are readying to locomotion astir 160 miles of Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage known arsenic "The Way of St. James." She’s besides anxious to thrust her bicycle crossed the United States.

"I’m inactive trying to fig retired what I privation to beryllium erstwhile I turn up," the 58-year-old chuckled.

The Oklahoma National Memorial connected the time of Timothy McVeigh's execution  June 11, 2001, successful Oklahoma City, Okla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Downs hopes viewers watching the documentary volition larn however a assemblage became agreed during tragedy.

Floral tributes commemorate the 19 children killed successful the Oklahoma City bombing astatine the basal of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building successful April 1995. (National Geographic/Courtesy The Stephen Jones Oklahoma City Bombing Archive, Dolph Briscoe Center, astatine the University of Texas)

"It showcases the spot of the quality tone and the courageousness of these men who rushed successful to help," she said. "And the mode we came together. The happening is, we are each going to look times successful our lives erstwhile we’re buried nether the rubble, wherever devastation comes to us. … We volition look hard times.

"I deliberation the acquisition from this is that, arsenic people, we tin travel together. And erstwhile you travel unneurotic during times of difficulty, you are stronger than you realize. And together, you volition get done it."