Survivor - See

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realize that I am a survivor of 9/11, they understand what I mean when I tell them to look at the greater picture.” Gennarelli considers her attitude a gift, one that came from the most horrifying experience of her life. The nearly fatal day began when Gennarelli ended her commute from northern New Jersey and stepped off the escalator into the World Trade Center at approximately 7 a.m. At the time, Gennarelli managed a L’Oréal retail store in the World Financial Center and arrived early to prepare for a special customer function the following morning. She still had some time to kill and considered shopping in the mall that connected the buildings underground. “I changed my mind and decided I needed to go to the gym instead,” explains Gennarelli. “If I had gone shopping, I would have been in the towers when the plane hit.” After completing her workout and shower, Gennarelli recalls she looked at the clock and noted it was 9 a.m. Gennarelli prepared to walk outside and make the block-long trek to her job. A woman outside the gym appeared hysterical, and Gennarelli instinctively wanted to help her. However, she had no idea why the stranger kept saying “Oh my God,” over and over again. That is until she followed the direction of the woman’s finger pointing to the sky. By then, only the first plane had hit the towers. Gennarelli’s thoughts immediately went to the New York City firefighter she was dating and decided he was most likely at the scene. She worried about him and wondered how he and the others would get up to where they needed to be. “I continued to walk towards the towers and stopped like most people did,” Gennarelli says. “I’m so responsible that I still felt I had to get to my store.” Gennarelli says at this point she didn’t know what happened or how it happened. And then the unthinkable turned from bad to worse. “I watched the second plane come by as if in slow motion,” shares Gennarelli. “It exploded once and then exploded again. The heat made me feel like I was on fire.” Desks flew from the windows as debris scattered everywhere. Gennarelli’s worst recollection brought tears to her eyes as she quietly spoke the words. “I saw a jumper and remember his tie was up,” Gennarelli whispers. “I also saw other people standing on the edge.” Bedlam broke out in the streets and Gennarelli made a mad dash for cover. She ran to the nearby Millennial Hotel, fell inside the revolving door, and couldn’t pull herself up. Gennarelli’s body blocked the way for others trying to find an escape. By some miracle, Gennarelli made it out of the door and crawled into the hotel lobby. She paid little attention to an injured foot as she planned her next move. “All I knew was that I had to survive,” shares Gennarelli. “I thought of my mom, and how could she go on if I didn’t at least try.” Gennarelli worried that a third plane would strike the hotel and decided to leave the building. As she escaped through a side exit, she saw a dead person in the street – another unforgettable sight. “I became even more petrified and scared when I learned what happened,” Gennarelli says. “It hit me when I heard people yelling that we were being attacked.” Alone and afraid, Gennarelli’s first inclination was to seek shelter at another L’Oreal store on Liberty Street. When she arrived, a police officer blocked her entrance and gave her a simple answer to her pleas. He told the young woman to walk uptown. As she went past City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge, Gennarelli worried the attackers would bomb them next. Despite a sprained ankle, she ultimately made it to L’Oreal’s Fifth Avenue headquarters. “The manager of a Queens store and someone from Human Resources were waiting for me,” shares Gennarelli. “I walked with the manager to Queens over the Queens Borough Bridge. There was no other way out, with everything on lockdown.” Gennarelli let her family know she was alive as soon as she could. As she sat with her colleague at her home, Gennarelli learned of the firefighters who lost their lives and assumed her boyfriend was among them. It wasn’t until three days later the two learned they both survived the fatal attacks. While she was treated for neck and back injuries for several years, Gennarelli admits the PTSD remains the most permanent damage. Two or three weeks after the attacks, Gennarelli followed the recommendations of her therapist and returned to the scene. She and her brother photographed the remnants, although it’s the other images that remain embedded in her memory. “I still have nightmares,” says Gennarelli. “I will never work in New York City again.”

─Photo by Veronica L. Yankowski The devastation at Ground Zero will live on in people’s minds and hearts for a lifetime.