09/25/2026
They forgot her… but we won’t. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Genelle Guzman-McMillan went to work at the World Trade Center. She was working on the 64th floor of the North Tower when the attacks began.
She and other workers began making their way down the building. But before they could escape, the tower collapsed.
Genelle was buried beneath tons of concrete and steel.
She was trapped in a tiny space, unable to move her legs. She could move only one arm. Around her was darkness, dust, debris and silence.
Hours passed. Then night came. And she was still there.
Genelle prayed and cried out for help, not knowing if anyone would ever hear her.
While rescue workers continued searching the enormous pile of wreckage, Genelle remained buried beneath it.
Twenty-seven hours passed. Then, on September 12, rescuers heard her voice. A hand reached through the rubble and found hers.
After carefully removing the debris and steel trapping her, rescuers finally pulled Genelle into the sunlight.
She was the last person pulled alive from the World Trade Center ruins.
She was taken to the hospital, where doctors treated her serious injuries. Her legs had been badly damaged, and she underwent multiple surgeries. She eventually recovered enough to walk again, although she was left with a slight limp.
And then there is something else that makes her story especially important to remember.
In 2006, the movie World Trade Center told the story of two Port Authority police officers who were trapped in the collapse. Genelle’s survival was not part of that film.
But history is bigger than one movie.
Genelle was there. She survived. She waited 27 hours beneath the rubble. And someone eventually found her.
So when you look at this photograph, I want you to think about something:
What would it feel like to know that the entire world had moved on above you while you were still trapped underneath it?
And if you were one of the rescuers who heard her voice after 27 hours, what do you think would have gone through your mind?
We do not glorify violence. We reveal truth so history can’t repeat itself.
