‘The Plane Was Under Him’: Female WWE Star Once Recalled Her Devastating 9/11 Experience and the Loss She Suffered

9/11 is a dark day in our history that any of us can never ever forget. Thousands of people lost their loved ones on that grim day, and the grief of their loss still stays with them. Everyone has their own painful memory of 9/11, and WWE Superstar Zelina Vega is no different. She lost a very important part of her life that day – her father.

Speaking candidly in an interview with Renee Young, Queen Zelina recounted her harrowing and devastating story, and shared her experience of coping with the immense loss she felt. She described how the day started off as a normal one, with her staying home from school because of a doctor’s appointment. However, Vega saw her mother frantically pacing downstairs next to the phone, and realized that something was wrong.

Zelina Vega’s heartbreaking loss

The WWE Diva held back tears as she narrated the events that took place. “She (Her mother) was like, freaking out on the phone. She turns on the TV and she’s like, “Michael! Michael! You’re in there?” She’s not being clear, Michael like Uncle Michael? “No, it’s your dad.” The second she said that, that’s when I felt like I completely rose from my body and didn’t – I wasn’t there for anything else.”

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On that fateful day, her father, Michael Trinidad, was trapped in the World Trade Center, where he worked as an analyst for the firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Trinidad, who was divorced from Vega’s mother, understood he had to bid his family farewell. “He was on the 103rd floor and the plane was under him, so he couldn’t go down, and he couldn’t really go up either,” Vega continued, “He said to her, ‘Listen, Monique. I need you to know I love you so much. I have always loved you and I am so sorry for everything that happened between us. Just let the kids know how much I love them.'”

How her father inspired Zelina Vega to be who she is today

Vega talked about how she always regretted that she could not say goodbye to her father, and said that she was depressed for a long time after the incident. To lose a loved one like that really takes a toll on anyone, and Vega, unfortunately, was no exception. However, she eventually realized that her last memories with her father, which were of a small trip to Woodlands, New Jersey, were the best goodbye she could’ve given her father. She said, “He planned this big thing for us, it was like a little vacation. It was amazing, we had so much fun with him.”

Queen Zelina shared how her father was her biggest inspiration to become a WWE Superstar and got emotional as she talked about how her dad always supported her dreams from a very young age. “I thought, finally at around 15, 16, what was it that my dad and I loved so much? And it was wrestling, it was the WWE,'” she said.

Her father surely raised a strong, determined, capable daughter, and it only goes to show what a great soul he was. During these tough times, it is important that we all, like Vega, remember to cherish and celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us.

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