Genelle Guzman McMillan, an employee of the United States Port Authority, was the last person removed alive from the rubble of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Twenty-five years after the tragedy, she gave an interview to "People" magazine to recall the horror and faith that kept her alive.
On the morning of that day, Genelle, then 30 years old, was working on the 64th floor of the North Tower. At 8:46 a.m., the first impact of the airplane shook the building. Minutes later, upon feeling the tremor of the second airplane hitting the South Tower, she and her colleague Rosa began descending down the emergency stairs.
Genelle stopped on the 13th floor to remove her high heels that were hurting her feet. It was at that moment, at 10:28 a.m., that the tower completely collapsed. "Everything exploded. Everything collapsed and fell on top of me," she recalled to the publication.
Genelle's survival is considered miraculous. She stated she was saved by a mysterious stranger, whom she calls an "angel," while trapped among the rubble. The story of her rescue remains as one of the most emotional chapters of the tragedy that killed nearly 3,000 people that morning.
