--- title: "How the last survivor of 9/11 made it out alive after the Twin Towers fell" date: "2026-08-11" modified: "2026-08-11" authors: - name: "Stephen Ruiz" job_title: "Editor, Writer" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/stephen/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/how-the-last-survivor-of-9-11-made-it-out-alive-after-the-twin-towers-fell/" categories: - "History" tags: - "9/11" - "Military History" - "Terrorism" --- # How the last survivor of 9/11 made it out alive after the Twin Towers fell ![View of Ground Zero]() *A view through a broken-out office window shows the wreckage of the World Trade Center on September 25, 2001, in New York City. (Eric Feferberg/AFP via Getty Images)* For as long as she could, Genelle Guzman-McMillan followed orders to stay put. Guzman-McMillan worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Its office was on the 64th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. When terrorists smashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the tower on September 11, 2001, Guzman initially thought it was an earthquake. **Also Read:** [**We remember 9/11. Here’s why we must never forget 9/10.**]() While the stunned workers hovered together, a public address announcement advised them not to go anywhere. Some, like Guzman-McMillan, stayed where they were; others left. After terrorists rammed a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, into the South Tower and it toppled less than an hour, Guzman-McMillan and her co-workers couldn’t wait any longer. They had to get out of that disabled tower. “The building shook again,” Guzman-McMillan [told an audience at Fort McCoy](), Wisconsin, in 2021. “It swayed, and that’s when… the other building collapsed. I thought, ‘Oh, no. We’re going down. … We’re not getting out of here.” That’s when Guzman-McMillan and about 15 co-workers began descending the stairs. (The elevators were not an option, because they no longer worked.) She and her friend, Rosa Gonzalez, held hands with every step. They made it to the 13th floor when Guzman-McMillan [stopped to take off her high-heeled boots](). As she did, the North Tower collapsed. ### “This Is Not a Dream” ![9/11 rescue workers]() *Rescue workers take a break at the scene of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. (Gene Shaw/Getty Images)* Guzman-McMillan was trapped, beginning an ordeal that stretched to 27 hours before rescuers found her. The last survivor pulled out of the rubble at Ground Zero, Guzman-McMillan was under so much debris at first that she [could only move her left arm](). Pieces of the collapsed tower trapped the rest of her body, and two pillars prevented her head from moving. Guzman-McMillan solved that issue by wrenching her neck, [pulling out some hair in the process](). Still, Guzman-McMillan, her head bleeding, was all alone. Accompanied by only darkness and silence, she had no idea where Gonzalez or anyone else was. Guzman-McMillan didn’t know whether any rescue workers would ever find her. “I keep being alert,” Guzman-McMillan [said at Fort McCoy](). “I keep hearing the radios. I keep hearing the firetrucks. I keep hearing the walkie-talkies and the communication going on. And for some reason, I just couldn’t speak. I wanted to, but my voice just couldn’t open up to say, ‘Help.’” Guzman-McMillan thought [she was going to die](), she recalled in a video interview with Guideposts, a Christian nonprofit organization. Before 9/11, Guzman-McMillan—who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and immigrated to New York in the 1990s—was not a deeply religious person. Uncertain of whether she would be reunited with her boyfriend and daughter, however, she prayed for a positive outcome. Then she believes [a guardian angel arrived]() to comfort her. ### Her Prayers Were Answered ![Last 9/11 survivor]() *Genelle Guzman-McMillan was working in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when terrorists flew a plane into it on September 11, 2001. (Screenshot from Guideposts YouTube video)* Guzman-McMillan called the guardian angel Paul. She said he grabbed her hand and told her everything was going to be OK. That support arrived in Guzman-McMillan’s most vulnerable moments. Soon thereafter, Guzman-McMillan said she heard voices and sirens. [A Canadian police dog named Trakr](), along with his handler and two volunteers, located Guzman-McMillan. “I was so joyful at that time, knowing that the guys came in,” Guzman-McMillan recalled to Guideposts. “Finally, I’m getting out.” Rescue workers carefully extricated Guzman-McMillan from the debris that engulfed her. Once they did that, they got her to the nearest ambulance. She was not in good shape. Doctors thought Guzman-McMillan might [lose her right leg]() or never walk again. She underwent four surgeries and endured months of physical rehabilitation. Guzman-McMillan spent six weeks in the hospital. Except for a barely discernible limp, she made a complete recovery. When she finally received her discharge papers, one of the first things she did was marry her fiancé, Roger. They have since had two children together. ### Emerging from the Rubble ![9/11]() *This 'Never Forget' tapestry hangs in the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. (Photo courtesy of Billy Hathorn)* Guzman-McMillan still works for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is a supervising office administrator. Besides her main job, Guzman-McMillan accepts public speaking assignments to discuss her ordeal during 9/11. Besides the attacks at the World Trade Center, terrorists also flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Passengers also fought with terrorists on board United Airlines Flight 93, causing it to crash into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Terrorists claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people and injured thousands more. Guzman-McMillan somehow survived, making her an anomaly among those in the World Trade Center on that horrific day. Guzman-McMillan, who wrote a memoir in 2011 titled “Angel in the Rubble,” admits that 9/11 changed her—for the better. It caused her to reassess her values and strive to live a better life. “What if I hadn’t been buried in debris, the ground falling out beneath me at the 13th floor as I was racing to get out of the building?” Guzman-McMillan [asked in a self-written article for Guideposts](). “What if I hadn’t been stuck under rubble for 27 hours before rescuers finally found me? I would have been grateful, but I wouldn’t have looked any deeper at my life.” **Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty** **• [The evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 was America’s Dunkirk]()** **• [The story behind the famous 9/11 light memorial]()** **• [The history of Rip It, the beverage that fueled the War on Terror]()** ## Author Stephen Ruiz is an editor and writer at We Are The Mighty. His writing revolves mostly around military history and sports stories, but it can branch into other areas. Stephen has more than 35 years of journalism experience. His career began with stints at The Ledger newspaper in Lakeland, Florida, and The Kansas City Star in Missouri, but most of his time was spent on the copy desk at the Orlando Sentinel. After accepting a buyout from the Sentinel in 2020, Stephen worked at Military.com for 4½ years as a content editor and writer. He joined the We Are The Mighty staff in December 2025. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()