During the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Stefan Horlacher ran through falling debris to help people in the street. He was horrified to discover that the wreckage had cut deeply into his back. After flagging down a passing ambulance, Horlacher helped Debbie St. John reach the hospital. She became the first patient admitted on September 11, 2001, and the last to be discharged—18 months later, after undergoing 50 surgeries.
Although St. John spent years in rehabilitation, married her fiancé, and became a mother, she never forgot the man who helped save her life. Years later, the two 9/11 survivors were reunited.
“I remember talking to Debbie on the phone, and she said, ‘I want to meet Stefan,’” Jones recalled. “I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said, ‘I want to take him horseback riding.’ She was badly injured and couldn’t walk, but she wanted to show him how far she had come because of him. So we made it happen.”
At the Pentagon, Commander Craig Powell and Lt. Col. Marilyn Wills were among those caught in the building when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it. Wills was attending a meeting when a fireball swept toward her, scorching her hair. Trapped inside the burning wreckage, she remembered that a window was nearby and led other survivors down the hallway.
The bomb-resistant window would not open at first, so Wills and her superior officer kicked it until it gave way. Because they were on the second floor, Powell and other people on the ground formed a human safety net as survivors jumped from the burning building one by one.
“You have a second chance—live your life”
Powell caught Wills as she made one of the final jumps to safety. After handing her to a teammate for CPR, he initially believed she had died. He later learned that Wills was alive.
“In a situation like that, giving someone CPR is just instinctive,” Powell said. He also recalled the courage it took for survivors to jump from the second floor. “It was like jumping from the fourth floor of an ordinary building.”
Powell said his body ached the following day. Catching several people while debris and ceilings collapsed around him had taken a physical toll, and he needed time to recover. Still, the experience reinforced a message shared by many 9/11 survivors: when you are given a second chance at life, you have to make the most of it.
Source: arstechnica.com