Man in famous 9/11 photo dies of Covid-19, family says

A man seen in a famous photo of New Yorkers fleeing the 9/11 collapse of the World Trade Center’s south tower has died due to Covid-19, his family told CNN.

Stephen Cooper was delivering political papers in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, when a police officer told him and others to run, Janet Rashes, his partner of 33 years, told CNN.

Cooper is seen on the far left of the photo, wearing glasses and a black shirt, as he and others run from billowing smoke and debris.

“He never realized he was photographed until a couple weeks later,” Rashes said. “He was looking in a newspaper or magazine and he saw his picture shown.”

Cooper, 78, passed away in Florida on March 28, Rashes said.

“He was very, very proud,” Rashes said. “He would keep a picture in his wallet and show people he just met.”

Thick smoke rises over the New York City skyline after the World Trade Center towers were downed by terrorists on September 11, 2001.

In this image taken from video, American Airlines Flight 11 is seen seconds before crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. ET. It was the first plane that hit the World Trade Center. Flight 11 took off from Boston and was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles.

People in New York look up as the World Trade Center burns.

Fire and smoke are seen from the north tower.

A man falls from one of the World Trade Center towers. The publication of this photo, taken by Richard Drew, led to a public outcry from people who found it insensitive. Drew sees it differently. On the 10th anniversary of the attacks, he said he considers the falling man an "unknown soldier" who he hopes "represents everyone who had that same fate that day." It's believed that upwards of 200 people fell or jumped to their deaths after the planes hit the towers.

Seventeen minutes after the north tower was struck, at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 flew into the south tower of the World Trade Center. That plane also flew out of Boston en route to Los Angeles.

People in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral react with horror as they look down Fifth Avenue toward the World Trade Center site.

White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispers into the ear of US President George W. Bush as Bush was visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida. "America is under attack," he said.

Pedestrians look across the East River to the burning towers.

Surveillance video from a Pentagon security camera shows a fireball rising from the southwestern side of the building after American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it at 9:37 a.m. The flight had taken off from Dulles, Virginia, en route to Los Angeles.

Firefighters try to control the flames at the Pentagon.

Vice President Dick Cheney talks on the phone from inside the President's Emergency Operations Center.

The south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 9:59 a.m.

People run as the building collapses.

Two men take cover as a dust cloud from the collapsed building envelops lower Manhattan.

At 10:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 — traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco — crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It is believed that the hijackers crashed the plane in that location, rather than their unknown target, after the passengers and crew tried to retake control of the flight deck.

Military vehicles travel along the road leading to the crash site of Flight 93.

Bush speaks to Cheney aboard Air Force One after departing Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. He had flown to Nebraska temporarily for security reasons.

The north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 10:28 a.m. The time between the first attack and the collapse of both towers was 102 minutes.

A massive cloud of smoke and debris fills lower Manhattan after the north tower crumbled.

New York Daily News photographer David Handschuh is carried after his leg was shattered by falling debris.

A New York firefighter pauses as smoke rises in the background.

Dust-covered survivors run through New York's streets after the towers collapsed.

People in New York navigate through a dust cloud.

Members of Congress gather on the east steps of Capitol Hill and sing "God Bless America" to denounce the terrorist attacks.

Marcy Borders stands covered in dust as she takes refuge in an office building after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Borders, who became known as "Dust Lady," died of stomach cancer in 2015. She was 42.

Dust, ash and rubble cover everything on a street in lower Manhattan.

Remains of the World Trade Center are seen amid the debris.

Bush prepares to address the nation on the evening of September 11. "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America," he said in his remarks. "These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."

People in New York gather for a candlelight vigil a day after the attacks.

In photos: The September 11 attacks

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Suzanne Plunkett, the then-Associated Press photographer who captured the famous image, told CNN that she has stayed in touch with some of the people in the photo but never got to meet Cooper.

“He sounded like a really gregarious, warm-hearted man,” she said in an email to CNN. “I’ve been in contact with some of those people in the shot, and we’ve stayed in touch over the years. I’d always wondered about the ones I’d never connected with, so it was an honor for me to hear that Mr. Cooper was proud of his appearance in the photo.”

The morning of September 11, Plunkett said she received an emergency page from her AP editors. After turning on the TV to see smoke billowing from the south tower, she raced downtown to Fulton Street and Broadway, where she managed to snap 13 frames before being ordered by an NYPD officer to run and seek cover, she said.

After uploading a few of the photos to her editors in a nearby shop, Plunkett said the photo went on to be published around the world.

“I would’ve loved to talk to Mr. Cooper about that day. It would’ve been cathartic for me to talk with him and to reflect on what happened to us both in the years that followed,” Plunkett said.

Cooper is survived by Rashes and their daughter, Jessica.