President Bush was working the crowd at a campaign stop in Lebanon, Ohio, when a voice rose above the excited din: “This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9/11.”
Bush stopped in his tracks, turned around and without fanfare, wrapped his arms around 15-year-old Ashley Faulkner, hugging her to his heart.
“It felt like he was trying to protect me,” the teen told The Post yesterday.
“Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I feel safe,” the high-school junior said. “He took 20 seconds to give me a hug for no other reason but to comfort me.”
Ashley’s dad was equally impressed with the president’s simple, heartfelt gesture – and moved by his daughter’s response.
“That’s more emotion than she’s shown in 2 ½ years” since 9/11, said her father, Lynn.
“The man just transformed before our eyes. He changed from this very powerful, very important person into a man, and a husband and a father,” said Faulkner, 50, of Mason, Ohio. “It was remarkable.”
The emotion-packed encounter took place on Tuesday, when Ashley, her dad and a neighbor went to a Bush rally.
“We got there early and were right up toward the front,” Lynn Faulkner said.
“When he finished talking, he came down to shake hands. He was in campaign mode, lighthearted and smiling as he came down the line.
“I shook his hand, then my daughter handed him her ticket to autograph and he signed it.
“And then our neighbor said, ‘Mr. President, this girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9/11.’ “
Bush’s response was immediate, Faulkner said.
“A very honest sort of sadness came over his face,” he said. “He backed up to where Ashley was, looked down at her and asked, ‘How are you doing?’ Then he gently put his hand around her back and pulled her head to his chest to hug her.”
“Ashley sort of snuggled into him and said, ‘I’m OK,’ ” he said.
As Faulkner reached for his camera, “The president looked up, right into my eyes, and told Ashley, ‘I can see you have a father who loves you very much.’ “
Seconds later, Faulkner said, “the president was back down the line in campaign mode.”
“There were so many people crowded around, there was no way [anyone else] saw what happened. It was not for public consumption,” Faulkner said.
“It was a private moment – one I just happened to steal,” he said, referring to the photo he managed to take.
The rally had special significance for Ashley, who had spent a rainy afternoon with her mom four years ago, waiting – but not getting close enough – to see candidate Bush on an earlier campaign trip.
A year later, Bush was in the White House, and Ashley’s 47-year-old mother was gone.
Wendy Faulkner, an Aon Corp. vice president, was at a meeting on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower when the terrorists struck.
She tried to flee the building, but the elevator was packed and she didn’t make it out. Her remains were never found.
The Faulkners have established a memorial foundation to carry on her philanthropic work – sending packages of clothing, food, medicine, toys and other items to orphanages and impoverished families in Third World countries.
The foundation’s Web site is http://www.wendyfoundation.org.