Godwin Forde senior, a security worker, was among the 67 British individuals who died in the al-Qaeda attack on the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001. His son, Godwin Forde, who was planning to move to the US to live with his father, spent his first trip to New York searching for him.
Godwin Forde senior had recently been promoted to lead a security team on an upper floor of the South Tower. His daughter Charlene, who had moved to New York a week prior, contacted her brother when she could not reach their father.
The siblings searched for their father, putting up posters and contacting helplines, with some assistance from the Red Cross. Confirmation of his death was received at the end of October that year, and they held a memorial as there was no body or belongings.
Two accounts emerged regarding Godwin Forde senior's actions. One colleague reportedly said he told her to leave while he stayed to clear others. Another story suggests he made it out but returned to help more people before the building collapsed, while a different version states he remained inside, assisting people to exits.
Godwin Forde stated that his father should be remembered as the "hero that he was." He described his father as "someone that would literally go out of his way for anyone."