THE terror was etched on every screaming face. A giant cloud mushroomed ominously towards them, obliterating the sunlight as they fled, panic stricken for their lives.

Gripping the edge of his sofa, Tony Ward scanned the screen desperately searching for the familiar features of his daughter Rachel and her boyfriend James Winter.

Hardly daring to blink for fear of missing her, his eyes darted nervously as the news teams beamed back the full horror of the New York terrorist attack to his Darlington living room.

Business people were pictured fleeing for cover, their suits covered in shrouds of cement dust. Tourists and commuters ducked from flying pieces of burning debris, and the first survivors blurted out their emotional stories, crying unashamedly on the sidewalks as they struggled to comprehend who could target them in such a way. All the time, Rachel and James were no where to be seen.

An hour earlier, Tony had been on his way back home from visiting his mother when he had innocently flicked on the radio. The words he heard tore through his heart: an accident at the twin towers only 150 metres away from Rachel and James' apartment.

As each mile passed on the frantic journey home, more news spilled out of the radio - terrorists, planes hijacked, tower crash, thousands feared dead. "Over the miles it became more and more obvious this was no accident," he said.

"The second plane had gone into the tower before I got home and it just seemed like a nightmare. Every report was getting worse and worse."

Once home, Tony dashed upstairs to his flat and dived for the phone, only to be met with a persistent engaged tone or an automated voice telling him his call had not been successful.

Desperate for information, he ran to his computer to e-mail them and check for messages. But there was nothing.

Soon, he was joined by his younger daughter, Claire, 27.

"We absolutely feared the worst," said Tony, 56.

"It just didn't seem as if they could have survived. We were frantically looking for their faces on the television, it was horrifying.

"I felt totally and utterly helpless, just impotent.

"It was so frustrating not being able to get through to them so after two hours we realised it was just hopeless and gave up," he said.

As the hours passed, friends and relatives rang continuously, desperate for news on the popular couple. Each call sent a wave of dread through Tony and Claire as they wondered which card fate would deal them.

They continued to pray for a miracle and at 10pm it finally came. In a crackly phone call, Claire finally heard her sister's voice. She had witnessed the catastrophe, but was safe. "I just heard her scream 'Rachel' down the phone at her," said Tony.

"We just had tears of joy as we found out they were okay. We were hugging each other and felt huge relief."

But their feelings also included guilt, because the couple were safe, while others still endured the agonising wait for news. Their prayers are with the thousands of other families still waiting.