This morning I discovered a paper written by my uncle, a surgeon who was working in an NYC hospital on the morning of September 11, 2001. The link will only work if you are signed in to a university’s library, but you can also search for it via the following citation information: Remembering September 11: reflections from Bellevue Hospital and New York University Medical Center. Marcus et al Surgery 2002;132(3):502-5.
What strikes me when reading the piece, and what I remember hearing from him at the time, was how minor the injuries were, and how few people they treated, since so many people died immediately at the World Trade Center. He sums it up beautifully at the end: “Many lives were lost that day, but the heroes of New York, NY, evacuating those towers saved many lives. At Bellevue and NYU, we were prepared to save more, if only we had the chance.”
I’m proud of my uncle for all that he was able to do, and thankful to all the other medical responders and civilians who did what they could that day.