Angel in the Rubble: The Miraculous Rescue of 9/11's Last Survivor (An Inspiring Memoir)

by Genelle Guzman-McMillan

While I was being dug out, dozens and dozens of volunteers in the vicinity flocked to the scene, ready to do whatever necessary to transport me to the waiting ambulance. And when I say “dozens and dozens,” I’ve been told there were at least two hundred, and probably even closer to three hundred. Simply unfathomable to me. They formed two lines. Separated a few feet apart, they faced each other, basically forming a human tunnel. They stood outside the hole I was in and snaked all the way down the rubble to the ambulance. “You ready, Genelle?” one of them said. I couldn’t have smiled any brighter. “Absolutely,” I replied. The fireman who had been at my side gave my hand one more squeeze. “You did good,” he said. “Thank you for everything,” I said, unsure of how to thank a man who played a major role in saving my life. I still could barely open my eyes, so I had no idea what he looked like. And I realized just a few seconds after thanking him that throughout the entire rescue, he never told me his name. How did I not ask? But it was already too late. The split second after saying “Thank you for everything,” my descent down the heap of rubble had begun.