By USA Daily Now 
On April 19, 1995, AMY DOWNS, a teller at a credit union inside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, began her day with excitement. “I remember the red buds were blooming,” DOWNS recalled to Fox News Digital. “I was so excited. I was getting ready to close my very first house.” However, her joy was abruptly shattered when a truck bomb detonated outside the building, killing 168 people in the deadliest homegrown attack on U.S. soil.
DOWNS, now 58, is one of the survivors sharing her harrowing experience in the new National Geographic docuseries, *Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America*. “I think it’s so important to remember what happened and the lessons that were learned,” she said.
At 28 years old, DOWNS found herself trapped upside down in her office chair, buried under 10 feet of rubble after falling three floors. “I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see. It was very hard to breathe,” she recounted. “I had no idea what had happened. I just knew it was bad.”
Fire Chief MIKE SHANNON heard DOWNS‘ cries for help but was forced to evacuate due to fears of a second bomb. “I was getting ready to die,” DOWNS said. “I prayed for a second chance.” Six and a half hours later, she was rescued, though 18 of her 33 co-workers perished in the attack.
The bombing was orchestrated by former U.S. Army buddies TIMOTHY MCVEIGH and TERRY NICHOLS, who harbored a deep-seated hatred of the federal government. MCVEIGH was executed in 2001, while NICHOLS, now 70, is serving life in prison without parole.
DOWNS embraced her second chance at life, transforming from a 355-pound couch potato to completing a full Ironman triathlon. She also rose through the ranks at Allegiance Credit Union, eventually serving as president and CEO. “I promised God that I would never live my life the same if I survived, and I meant that,” she said.
Today, DOWNS is a full-time speaker and is planning to walk 160 miles of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. She hopes the docuseries will inspire viewers to unite during times of tragedy. “We are all going to face times in our lives when we’re buried under the rubble,” she said. “Together, you will get through it.”
For more details, watch *Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America* on National Geographic. [Source: Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com)