daughter and a 21-month-old son. the agricultural researcher was shopping for anniversary present for her husband. she was in a flower shop when she first heard the noise. it was so loud that i actually thought it was an earthquake and the building was collapsing. so that s the point when i just told my kids to lie down. of course, i m scanning the area wondering where we re going to go. reporter: scenes captured on security cameras in the mall show how quickly the attacks began. you can see machine gun bullets flashing down the main concourseas shoppers scramble and dive to the floor. and then i saw tracer rounds starting to hit the shops that were straight ahead. reporter: catherine s first thought, protect her kids. it was instinct to grab the girls and run. but we must not have gone very far when a kenyan woman came,
even if they were in uniform. and then as he sat up, then i saw his shirt. i was able to recognize the uniform. and then he said, it s fine. i m going to lead you to safety. get up. reporter: desperately afraid to move faith agreed it was time to make a run for it. still worried that gunfire would erupt again, faith slowly got up and crept toward the exit with her children. i remember seeing a body lying there on the steps as we ran out. but i said i am focusing on where we are going. there was this policeman running too fast and way ahead. the one with my son was lagging behind and i kept on saying, my son, my son. reporter: after all those hours forced to keep her children quiet, they were finally out. i m crying now because i m free, you know. there is all this tears of joy. reporter: in his hotel room 6,000 miles away in charlotte, phillip walton could only hope his story could have just a happy ending. he was combing through kenyan
friend s house together. simply the most precious thing i could even imagine to see all of them sitting there in safety and knowing that they had come through it. reporter: phillip grabbed the first flight back to kenya. must have felt really good when he got off the plane. it was very good because you know, as a mom, when dad s not around you feel like you have to keep it together and you have to be strong and the kids were very excited to see him. they had been asking. they were relieved to finally be able to touch him and hug him and have that extra security. reporter: these images show the devastation and destruction of the westgate mall ravaged by a siege that dragged on for four days. terrorists with links to al-qaeda claimed responsibility and the kenyan government said at least 67 people died. for the survivors it was difficult to make sense of it all, to move on.
when their phone rings. paul didn t call but stayed in touch with catherine through text messages. i sent a text get me out of here not like i thought he could but i was desperate. and that one, when she sent that one, my heart just sunk. reporter: catherine didn t text her husband philip because she knew he was too far away and knew she would only panic him. back in north carolina, all phillip could do was wait. it was 6:00 a.m. and news of the attack hadn t hit the u.s. yet. i m trying to imagine the feeling of getting that phone call and being so far away. i think helplessness is a pretty accurate word. you know there is nothing that you can do. i was so worried the girls would just be screaming like uncontrollably panicking and drawing attention. reporter: exactly what catherine was trying to prevent the girls from doing.
round after fatal round. catherine walton was hunkered down near where the shoot had gone started crouched in a small kiosk with a stranger and her three young daughters. she was desperately worried about her sons who were somewhere out there, but she had to focus on keeping her daughters quiet so they wouldn t attract attention. are you hiding from these gunmen? yeah. we were laying down on the ground trying to hide from them so they couldn t see us. porsche kept her fingers in her ears. gigi laid there and said, mom, i want my blanket and my mouse and my flashlight. she sleeps with those three things every night. she said she wanted her brothers. and i told her that we d see them later. reporter: catherine could only hope that was true. half a world away, a phone rang in a hotel in north carolina. catherine s husband, phillip, a tech entrepreneur had gone back to the u.s. for business