Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesJustin Willis, a UConn pitcher, and his familyfather Albert Aguero's mother Janette Aguero, sister Athena Aguerowere were able to escape from the Champlain Towers condo complex in Surfside Florida that fell on Thursday morning according to Dom Amore, Hartford Courant.According to the Associated Press, 9 people were killed in the collapse of the building and 150 others are still missing as rescuers continue searching the area.Willis stated that he was awake at 1 a.m., watching TV and playing video games. Then, he felt the building shake. His sister and Willis noticed dust floating to their 11th-story balcony.He said, "It felt like a first gust from a storm, then it felt kind of like [Super Storm] Sandy," he explained. It seemed almost normal at the time. The third one flew right over our building. I expected to see a plane fly right over our balcony.Willis stated that his family had gathered as many people as possible and looked into what was happening. They found two holes in the hallway where elevators should have been and discovered that the apartment they were staying in was gone.The pair then walked to the stairway and escaped the building. They stopped to assist an elderly lady on the third floor.Willis stated, "At this moment, [focusing] on saving the woman] takes you mind off of it." "There's something else happening."Willis stated that at 1:38 AM, he and his family had reached the beach and made their way to safety."Once we reached it, it settled in, and I was like, wow! What just happened?" He said. "I didn’t even think about that in the moment. I didn't even look at the building."He said that his sister and he were about 15 feet away from the edge of the building's fall. Willis lives with his family in West New York, New Jersey. The apartment belonged his grandparents. It was a place his family used often for vacations, he said.Willis described the escape as "just giving you a new feeling." "I have always been a positive child. It's a good feeling to believe that I have had unreal experiences with baseball and the sacrifices my parents made for me. But it certainly gives you a new meaning."Willis, a UConn junior, was 4-0 this season with a 2.60 ERA.
