A morning at work
Genelle Guzman-McMillan worked in the North Tower. In her later testimony, she remembered the ordinary pleasure of arriving at the World Trade Center and stopping for breakfast before going to her office on the 64th floor.
Then came the shock of an impact above. Understanding what had happened—and what to do next—took time. Her account begins in that uncertainty, before the images seen around the world could make the danger clear to those inside.
Sources: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association · ABC Conversations
Almost down
Speaking with ABC’s Richard Fidler, Genelle recalled the conflicting directions people received about staying or leaving. She eventually joined colleagues on the stairs.
After the long descent, she stopped to remove her high-heeled footwear. At that moment, the tower collapsed. The route that had seemed to lead toward escape disappeared around her.
Sources: ABC Conversations
The long wait
Genelle survived the collapse but could not free herself. For approximately twenty-seven hours she remained trapped in the wreckage, with pain, darkness, and no clear sense of how much time had passed.
The public disaster was also an intensely private ordeal: she could not know whether rescuers would find her. In her account to ABC, the hours beneath the rubble stand at the center of a survival story that would continue long after she reached a hospital.
Sources: ABC Conversations
A prayer for another chance
Genelle describes turning inward to prayer, asking God for forgiveness and another chance to live. She says a man who called himself Paul took her hand and reassured her before other rescuers reached her.
She understands that encounter as an answer to prayer and has described Paul as an angel. Her testimony remembers comfort arriving when she felt helpless. It is also a point where the published accounts differ.
Out of the rubble
Rescuers reached Genelle and brought her out alive the day after the attacks. For her, rescue was followed by physical recovery and a renewed commitment to Christian faith. She later described being baptized at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and marrying Roger on the same day.
Her survival did not erase the people she had lost. Remembering them remains part of her account of a life she regards as a gift.
Sources: ABC Conversations · Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Living beyond that day
ABC’s account also describes Genelle volunteering with the Red Cross. Her story moved beyond recounting an extraordinary rescue into helping others and speaking about what she had lived through.
For a reader, her testimony invites room for both hope and honest questions. Gratitude for one life saved can stand alongside grief for the lives that ended. Faith can be expressed through what a person does with the days that follow.
Sources: ABC Conversations
The sources behind this account
An original narrative drawn from the linked testimony and historical records. Religious interpretations are attributed to their speakers; the reflection questions are editorial.
- Genelle’s testimony: Never Forget ↗Billy Graham Evangelistic Association · primary interview
- Genelle Guzman-McMillan tells her story ↗ABC Conversations · primary interview
- The story of Paul ↗William Croyle · primary author account
Sources reviewed September 13, 2026. Photograph credits appear beside each image.
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