Genelle Guzman McMillan Survived the World Trade Center Collapse and Found a “New Life”

Genelle Guzman McMillan thought she was going to die after the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. She was escaping the North Tower when she stopped to remove her painful high heels. Moments later she was trapped beneath the wreckage with only her left hand free. She began praying and hoping she would survive long enough to see her daughter Kimberly again.

Guzman McMillan spent 27 hours trapped beneath the rubble before a man reached her and held her hand. She remembers him introducing himself as Paul while assuring her that she would be okay. Rescuers eventually freed her while doctors worked to save her injured leg. She later married Roger McMillan, raised a family and has described surviving 9/11 as receiving “a new life.”

(Photo: Paul Chiasson / AP / Courtesy Genelle Guzman)