Last 9/11 Survivor Pulled From the Rubble Says God Saved Her

9/11 survivor Genelle shares the extraordinary story of being trapped beneath the World Trade Center rubble for 27 hours after the Twin Towers collapsed. Believing she was going to die, she cried out to God for a miracle. Genelle reveals how that moment led her to Jesus Christ, transformed her life, and convinced her that God is real.

Interviewer: “Let’s take you to that date of September 11th. You’re at work on the 64th floor. 64th floor. When did you know something was wrong?”

Genelle: “Uh, when I made it to the 64th floor that morning, while I was there sitting there setting up my cubicle and stuff and I was talking with my coworker, I think when the plane hit, the building shook, it felt like an earthquake to me. And, when I actually realized that something was wrong is when we, I got up. I walked towards the window. I saw the bits of paper just floating in the sky and just by conversation, everyone hustling and bustling, going back and forth trying to figure out what was going on when we called the uh Port Authority police. And then, I think during that time uh they told us like something had happened, when a plane had hit the building.”

Interviewer: “And of course we all thought and you thought as well like it was a mistake, an accident, something like that.”

Genelle: “Yeah. I really thought it was a small plane hit the building and you know just a small cargo plane that hit and you know we were going to be okay and you know, but the shake was incredible so it felt different.”

Interviewer: “And the Port Authority told you all to stay put, right? Like that was the advice you were given at the time.”

Genelle: “We got that instruction to stay put. ‘Help is on the way you know. everything is okay.’ And so I waited. I stayed with my other co-workers and because I just started the company, I just started working there in January of that year, we did had fire drills, we had all that experience, so there was no emergency lights going off, there was no strobing lights there, there was nothing indicating that we had to leave. That’s why we kind of stayed thinking it was just you know something a little minor.”

Interviewer: “So time is going on and you and your co-workers are having conversations like kind of a debate. Hey, what were those conversations like?”

Genelle: “The conversations we had, you know, everybody was saying, you know, it’s fine. you know, we’re going to leave. We can’t use the elevator. Uh, people were making a couple phone calls back and forth to their friends and family. And during those phone calls, that’s when it started to get really intense cuz some people who got through to making phone calls, they were told what was happening on the outside. And then, you know, some of us decide to leave and some decide to stay, but we had to debate if we’re going to stay or leave. I definitely was not leaving alone. So, I called, I called Roger at the time, my boyfriend, and I told him what was going on, and then he told me to leave, and I told him I was going to leave, but I never left.”

Interviewer: “Yeah. You told him you were going to leave. He was going to meet you at the bottom of the stairs. You also though then called some other people like…”

Genelle: “I did. I did. I called my family members. I called my cousin. I called my sister. And then at one time I was calling and I wasn’t getting through to the calls. Uh, I called my cousin and actually she was um watching it on TV and there was a lot of noise in the background and I was trying to explain what was happening where I’m at. Uh, she knew, they knew I work in Manhattan. They didn’t know I was working actually at the Trade Center and I was trying to get her attention but they keep pausing telling you know like screaming of what was happening at they were watching on TV and then I said to her, I had to yell out. She said, ‘Um, oh my god, she’s talking to me’ and she’s like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe what is happening. The world is on fire.’ And then I trying to get her attention. So I said to her, I said, ‘Lauren, Lauren, I’m in the building.’ And then they started to scream and she just said, she yelled at me and she said, ‘Oh my god, you need to get out.’ And that’s what they knew that I was in the building.”

Interviewer: “Wow. And you were telling your loved ones that you love them at that point cuz was there some thought like I don’t know what’s going to happen next?”

Genelle: “At that point when I started to make other phone calls to my sister, I didn’t get through to her. Then I called Roger again. I didn’t get him. I left a voicemail for Roger telling him that I love him. I’m going to meet him out there. And um I called my sister again. I got through to her and I told her I’m leaving. But I love them. So, I made up my…”

Interviewer: “Yeah. You wanted to make sure that if anything happened, the people that you love knew how you felt. Okay. So, now, were you still up there when the second plane hit?”

Genelle: “Yeah, we were still um in that building when the second plane hit. The building shook again. It felt like it was going to fall. And I knew there and then that this was it. I felt it.”

Interviewer: “Yeah. So when did you make the decision to leave? And I think everyone left at once right from your floor like you guys all were like okay.”

Genelle: “Yeah. When we decided to leave um one of my co-workers um he decided to check the staircase and he realized that the staircase was it was lit. It was completely okay and he decided to leave. He said, ‘You know, help is not coming. We’ve been here for over an hour and uh we have to decide if we should go or we should stay,’ and we all made a vote. So, for some reason there was um someone in the team that didn’t wanted to leave, old guy. He didn’t really want to leave and we tried to talk him out and said, ‘You know, it’s been a while and we have to leave. It’s bad. This is bad.’ And finally we decide to leave and that’s when we decided to take the staircase. We counted was 15 of us all together and we all just decided to leave and he led the way and I remember walking behind him. I grabbed onto Rosa’s hand, my friend, and um we decided to take the staircase.”

Interviewer: “So, taking the staircase down from the 64th floor is quite a ambitious job, especially when you’re afraid and you don’t know what’s going to happen. Tell me about that journey down the stairs and with your best friend Rosa.”

Genelle: “Um, I remember clearly when I held on to Rosa’s hand and we said to each other, ‘You know, we’re going to do this,’ you know, and we were not rushing down the staircase despite that I had on all these high heels boots on and on my shoes. Um, I wasn’t trying to take it off. So, you know, she mentioned that should we take off our shoes? I said, ‘No, we’re fine. I’m going to be okay.’ And we just held hand. The guy is leading the way. And we kept going down each staircase. And I remember both of us, we just counting each staircase as we saw it going down. And from the 64, the 63, the 62. And we kept going. And we were pretty good. We were not rushing down. And then um I think when we made it to the 30-some staircase, we saw the firefighters coming up and they told us um, ‘You know, we’re doing great. You know, if you need anything, stay at the side, keep going, and we’re great.’ So, I felt some type of assurance that, okay, if they’re coming up, we going down. It should be okay.”

Interviewer: “Yeah, we’re almost there.”

Genelle: “And that’s when we kept going and we made it to the, I remember making it to the 13th staircase. And Rosa said to me, um, ‘You need to take your shoes off.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I really need to take my shoes off now.’ And that’s when I stopped on that staircase to take my shoes off and held on to Rosa’s shoulder, bend over, tried to take my shoes off, and before I can even get up, the walls just caved in and the rumble, the dust, everything just come crashing down without me.”

Interviewer: “I know this is a tough memory for you to talk about. So, thank you. I know there’s a reason you want to tell this story uh because of what happened next. So, you’re on the staircase, you hear the rumble, the walls start falling. What happens to you? What is that experience like? Do you have an understanding of what’s happening at that moment?”

Genelle: “I really thought I was in a dream. I really thought it was just a bad dream.”

Interviewer: “Yeah.”

Genelle: “And it, the way it just knocked me to the ground and I just laid there until it came to a complete stop. And in my mind, I’m still awake. I knew what was happening and the place just went completely silence. Um, I really thought to myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to get up from this bad dream.’ But when I kind of get to in a couple of seconds, I realize that I’m stuck and I’m actually pinned under the rubble and I couldn’t move. And then when I knew I said, ‘Okay, this is not a dream. This is actually happening.'”

Interviewer: “So tell me how you were positioned there under the rubble. Your legs were pinned, really crushed one of them.”

Genelle: “Um, I would, I kind of like when I went down for the first when the building collapsed I felt like if I had tried to block my head and my face at that point. But I ended up in a really weird position. My head got pinned towards the concrete pillar. Uh, my feet were criss-crossed and my legs, my arms were criss-crossed under my stomach. So, I was really, I can’t even really turn over to see what’s above me. I was like in a sideways position, but completely stuck with my legs and my arms. I only had my left hand loose to feel what was around me or what was, you know, just things. And yeah, and my head was just pinned between the concrete pillar. I could feel the concrete just piercing on my face, under my ear and my hair, and I just ended up in a weird position.”

Interviewer: “It’s crazy that you know, you were pinned, but everything kind of fell around you. I mean, you think of how many floors is the World Trade? It’s around 110 floors. And you were at 13. So, all those floors above you and yet you’re in this somewhat of a bubble.”

Genelle: “Yeah.”

Interviewer: “Um when did the pain start? Cuz at first you didn’t feel anything.”

Genelle: “At first I didn’t feel anything. Um I was there. Um I think the pain started like because I couldn’t, I felt my head started to feel like it wanted to explode because it was so tight between the concrete. Uh so a couple hours that’s when the pain really start um my legs. I tried to move it. I couldn’t feel it. At one point it just went numb. And that’s probably after hours. But the pain, I felt the concrete or the steel was sticking me at my side by my waist, but I couldn’t move over because there was no place to maneuver my body. So I just, it was excruciating at one point and then it just I just I couldn’t feel anything anymore.”

Interviewer: “So you’re aware this whole time and you know you start thinking about life. What were your thoughts in that moment?”

Genelle: “At first um just being there in that darkness and that silence as I said I thought I was dreaming and every time I shut my eyes and I just get up and I knew I’m awake. I knew okay it’s not a dream it’s really happening. And in that moment, I just say to myself, um, ‘I’m just going to die. I’m just going to see myself slowly dying here.’ I kind of like prepare myself to die just like by closing my eyes and not waking up. But every time I realize that I am up and I can hear things around me. I can hear like the sounds of the machine or the fire truck. I can hear everything around me. And I realized that I’m still breathing, but I wanted to die. I wanted to give up. But then I said to myself, ‘You know, I want to see my daughter and I want to see my family.’ But I didn’t know what to do. I was silenced. I couldn’t even nothing came to my mind in terms of praying or anything like that. I was just thinking I was just be gone and that’s it.”

Interviewer: “Now, you weren’t living a Christian lifestyle. You didn’t have a relationship with God. You know, you actually described yourself as somebody who had zero interest in that, but your mom was a Christian.”

Genelle: “Yes.”

Interviewer: “So, when did you start talking to God?”

Genelle: “Well, you know, growing up um living that lifestyle of seeing my parents, my mom especially being a Christian and my elder sister being a full-grown Christian. I knew of it. I knew what you know that there is a God. I knew everything. But I rejected that. I didn’t wanted that life. I just wanted to do me. I just wanted to live a life that I wasn’t ready for that. I thought when I’m much older I can do something like that, live that conservative life. And you know being in the rubble there at that point I knew I wanted to live and I just start to talk to God just like have a conversation not out loud. I was just speaking to him in my mind and I was just remembering everything that my mom taught me. I remember the church that I went to before 9/11. One time I visited a Christian church in New York before 9/11 with my friend and I just remember everything. I remember my, you know, I start thinking about Kimberly, my family, and I just say, I got to do something. I got to ask God something. I guess got to have a conversation. So I started to ask him and make promises to him that if he saved me, I promise I would do his will and I would live a life that is pleasing to him. And I just start just begging and pleading with God to save me and give me a second chance. And I meant it in my heart. I knew that I meant it. I felt it. There was this burning sensation in my heart. So, I know I was being convicted somehow. And I just started to just beg God, ‘Show me a sign. Show me a miracle. Show me something. Show me that I’m worth it.’ And I just ask, keep asking and begging.”

Interviewer: “When you’re talking to God trapped in the rubble, did you feel anything in your heart? Did you feel a sense of him or a peace or anything?”

Genelle: “I felt that burning sensation in my heart. And at one point when I almost wanted to give up and I cried out again. I said, ‘God, you know this. I know you can do miracle from what my mom told me. Testimony of what I’ve heard and seen.’ I said, ‘I know you can do miracle. Just show me a sign that you’re there. Just show me a sign that you’re listening to me.’ And I started to feel that pain. And when I was about to give up, like my head started to feel like it was going to explode when I started to feel that pain. And then for some reason, I just took my left hand, which was loose. And I was just feeling around me, my head, I was trying to touch my head to feel what was happening. And then in that moment that’s when someone grabbed me by my hand and they call me by my name. They said, ‘You, Janelle, I got you. My name is Paul.’ And at that point I felt just a peace in my body. My body just went completely calm and I knew God was there. And I said to him, I said, ‘Thank God.’ I just said, ‘Thank God.’ And I kept holding on to his hand. And he kept holding my hand. And the name I just it just in catching my heart and in my mind that I said, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to see Paul.’ And there’s Paul keep talking to me and telling me, ‘You’re going to be all right. Just hold on. Help is on the way.’ And that was the moment that I said to myself, I’m going to live this life. I’m going to do this. I’m going to live a life that is pleasing to God. And I was so anxious to do that. I was so so anxious. And that was the peace that I knew I found Jesus Christ under the rubble that day.”

Interviewer: “One of the things I love about your story is that all of us in crisis, whether we believe in God or not, often, maybe not all of us, but most of us will cry out to God and make him a bunch of promises. You know, ‘If you save me, I’ll give my life to you,’ you know, whatever. But not everybody actually follows up. But you really meant it. Like something really happened inside of you when you told God, yes, if you save me, I will live differently.”

Genelle: “Yes, I meant it. 25 years ago, I meant it. Um because the fact that when I got to the hospital, you know, the first thing I wanted to do is just get out of there, go to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. That’s the first church that I visited a long time. And I just wanted to get baptized and get married and start living a life pleasing to God. And I was so anxious to do that. But um actually I did it um in November, that same year I got baptized and I get married that same year of November. And you know Roger was willing to go along with anything that I choose because I told him I said, ‘This is the promise. This is what I asked God for. I want to start living a life that is pleasing to him.’ So we cannot be living boyfriend and girlfriend in plain house. I told him I said, ‘You know, if you’re not ready for this I understand but I give my life to Jesus Christ and that’s what I want to do and I want to start living according to his will. I want to change, my life is completely changed.’ I knew I felt the change. I was happy. I was so happy. I was so joyful. I was just so anxious just to start doing what I said I was going to do.”

Interviewer: “Yeah. Roger is your boyfriend who told you to get out and was running to meet you at the bottom and saw the tower collapse. I can’t imagine. I know he has his own incredible story. But um you’re laying there. Paul’s holding your hand. He’s telling you the rescuers are above you. You’re going to be okay. Um you can hear the rescuers.”

Genelle: “Mhm.”

Interviewer: “Tell me about like Paul wasn’t talking to the rescuers and the rescuers. When did they notice you?”

Genelle: “But in that moment when Paul was holding my hand, I remember clearly because I never lose conscious. I was totally awake through the 27 hours I’ve been there. And Paul was holding my hand. He was telling me, ‘Keep talking, Janelle. The help is on the way. You’re going to be fine. I’m not going to let you go.’ And I was keep squeezing his hand and but I wanted to like turn over and to look at him but I couldn’t. All the dust and all the debris in my mouth and my face and my head was still pinned and I just kept holding his hand and it felt it felt real. It was real and he was just telling me to keep talking and then I would hear, I then I think I heard the like the trucks or the reverse sound and I could hear the beep and then I would hear the noises of people talking with each other and then um he said to me he said, ‘You need to call out.’ And I said okay and that’s when I said, ‘Hello! Hello!’ And that’s when somebody answer back, one of the rescuer, ‘Hello, is anybody up there?’ And that’s when we start communicating. Paul, keep holding my hand and tell me, ‘You’re doing great. Just keep talking. Um, they’re almost here.’ And I could hear the guy, one of the guy answer me and he asked me my name and I told him my name. He asked me what floor I’m on and I told him everything. I was communicating with the guy and when um apparently they were like climbing up almost there to me and then the guy called me out and he said, ‘Could you see the light?’ I said, ‘No, I can’t see the light.’ So they were flashing a light because I was buried so deep. I think like 30 something feet down I was buried.”

Interviewer: “Wow.”

Genelle: “And they were asking me if I was seeing the light and I said, ‘No, I can’t see the light.’ And Paul kept holding my hand and saying, ‘You’re doing great. I’m not going to let you go. I’m not going to let you go.’ And during that time it just like I could hear them coming closer. The rescuer I could hear them. The sound start to be very close. And I heard somebody said, ‘Oh, I see her. I see her. I see it.’ And then they probably shine the light again and asked me again. I said, ‘No, I can’t see the light.’ And the guy said, ‘Okay. Um, I found her. I found her. She’s going to be okay.’ And then I could hear like the steel. They were cutting away the steel. I could hear the noise. And Paul kept holding my hand. And I felt so calm with him holding my hand. And then I could feel the guys came closer. And then they pulled, they removed the concrete above my head. And that’s when they grabbed me and they say, ‘Okay, I got you.’ And Paul was just, Paul just gone. And then the rescuer just they all hold me up and put me in the gurney and he strapped me down and they tell me, ‘Okay, you’re going to be fine. We’re going to take you out of here.’ And I was talking with them after. And they were carrying me. They were lifting me up. It felt like they were lifting up from a you know passing me from each hand to hand like it was like way up and then they were carrying me out. It felt so long. I felt like they were traveling a very long way and I turned to them. I remember when I felt like the sunlight were hitting my eyes and I knew I was in the open. I felt that light above me but my eyes could barely open. And I turned to them and I was smiling and I asked the guys, I said, ‘Um, are we there yet?’ And they’re like, ‘A long way, but we’re almost there. We’ll get you to the hospital.’ And then we were just having that conversation with the EMT workers. Until they got me to the hospital.”

Interviewer: “There’s so many details we don’t have time to get into. I mean, it was a dog that alerted that you were there, that started that process for the rescuers. It was a human chain that got you out. That it was a long, bumpy, crazy journey for you to get to the ambulance. The ambulance ride to the hospital and then when you’re in the hospital, you’re smiling like crushed leg, like bruises every, you know, so many things were wrong with you, cuts.”

Genelle: “Yeah.”

Interviewer: “And you’re smiling and they’re like, she hasn’t really realized yet. That’s what the doctor thought, right? But why were you smiling in the midst of all that pain?”

Genelle: “I was smiling. I remember I was smiling. I was so happy. I was so happy. I guess it’s that the Holy Spirit was in me. It was a new me. I was smiling and I was so excited to see my family. And the doctor was, you know, was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think it hit her yet.’ But, um, it never did. So, uh, I was so happy. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait to go home. I can’t wait to get home.’ Thinking that was just going to dust me off, you know, wash me up and send me home. And nope, that didn’t happen. They said, ‘No, you have a long way to go, sweetie.’ Cuz I didn’t feel my body, but it didn’t bother me. I didn’t feel my leg. I didn’t feel anything when I got there, but I just thought my leg were probably asleep and I’ll be fine. So, I was in this joyful moment because I really think that’s when it happened. The conviction did happen on September 11 that day.”

Interviewer: “Yeah. You were changed.”

Genelle: “I was changed. Totally. Totally.”

Interviewer: “Your recovery, you were in the hospital for a month. More than a month. You almost lost your leg.”

Genelle: “Yes. Um the doctor they told me that my leg is pretty messed up because of my being stuck for 27 hours. The nerve get damaged. Everything was dead and I had four surgery done on my right leg. On the third surgery they wanted to amputate my leg because it was it was just dangerous to be going in and out in my leg like that. And um I think they talked with Roger and my family about how the third surgery might go. And um I prayed so hard and I knew that if God bring me through this far, it’s got to be a better way. He’s going to get me through it. So on the fourth surgery and my leg was saved, but I totally have a drop foot now. But um thank God.”

Interviewer: “A bit of a limp, but you got your leg. And it was what, a year before, more than a year before you could really walk.”

Genelle: “Yeah. It took me over a year to actually walk unassisted without the brace or crutches or having people take me to therapy. I had intensive therapy done on my leg and um took me over a year to walk normal again.”

Interviewer: “Wow. Okay. So, you get out, you’re in the hospital, you start looking for Paul, of course. So, what was that search like?”

Genelle: “When I got to the hospital, the first thing I told Roger is to write the name down. The guy who I was who was holding my hand, who was talking to me, his name is Paul. And Roger wrote the name down. And when I had my first interview in the hospital bed, actually, Gary Tuchman, I’ll never forget it. And I asked him, I said, ‘Um, uh, the guy Paul is he, can I meet Paul?’ The guy who was talking with me, who was, this is a reporter who’s interviewing you. And he said, ‘Okay, we’ll look into it.’ And it never happened. One year, two years, three years, 5 years, 10 years.”

Interviewer: “Like you talked to the rescuers, too. The first people to reach you and they never saw anybody. Paul was not there. There was no Paul. When did you realize that Paul might not be human like he might be an angel?”

Genelle: “I think by when I started to go to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, I started going to church and you know we talking with my pastor and everything and just getting into the spiritual in aspect of life and God and the book and the Bible and everything. Then he told me, he said, ‘The miracle you were asking for, God sent you that miracle. Paul is no longer here. Paul is your angel. He’s the miracle you were asking for.’ And I don’t think Paul exists in person. And I think that was on the 10th year. And then that’s how I believe it. And then when I say, you know what, if Paul is out there, why not? Why would he come forward? It’s been 10 years. I said, no, Paul is an angel. He is my angel. And that’s when I dedicate my book to Angel in the Rubble, which really relates to Paul.”

Interviewer: “Yes. This beautiful book, Angel in the Rubble, tells the story in so much more detail that we can get into here. And you know, Paul knew your name. He didn’t ask you your name. He knew your name.”

Genelle: “My name.”

Interviewer: “Nobody saw him when they got to you. And he never talked to the rescuers. They never talked to him. And then he stopped talking and let go of your hand when they got to you. It’s such a crazy story. Goosebumps. [laughter] Um and there’s a movie coming out. A movie is coming out. Angel.”

Genelle: “Yeah. September 12th.”

Interviewer: “September 12th. On Lifeline.”

Genelle: “And the History Channel.”

Interviewer: “And the History Channel. I saw the trailer. It looks like an incredible movie. You know, you got a second chance at life definitely in such a dramatic way. You’re the last person pulled out of the World Trade Center tower um destruction. What are your reflections now? What have you learned from sometimes when we face death? You know, it changes our perspective on so many things. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned?”

Genelle: “But the lesson I, I’m so grateful for this experience that brought me to this moment. And I’ve learned to trust in God. I learned to release my fear. Let my faith be bigger than my fear. And you know, and I want to encourage people to that there is a God and he’s real. And it’s not by me that I was I’m here today. It’s by God’s grace I was saved, totally dependent on his grace being under that rubble for 27 hours. And I just want people to know that, you know, it’s not about us all the time. It’s not what you plan for your life. I was planning my life out. I’m going to do this. I’m going to do this. I’m going to be this. It was God already has his plan in store for you. And the purpose of my life, I’m still looking at it each day. Ask God to show me show me the way you lead and I would follow. So I’m just thanking God for this every day because with gratitude I can’t give enough gratitude and grace to God for having me here each and every waking moment. Uh I mean life is not guaranteed to any one of us. I was not supposed to be here but I’m supposed to be here. I may not um where I have was intended to go but I’m here where I needed to be you know. So I just thank God for his mercy and his grace and I want people to know that there is a God and he is real and without him we really can’t do nothing. Our strength come from him with him and he has the ultimate purpose and the reason for us being in here.”

Interviewer: “I know you said the Janelle who went into the towers that day and the Janelle who came out and who’s lived now for decades past when she should. And by the way, like everybody that was with you perished, unfortunately, except for one other person, right, of the group that you left with, which is so hard. But I know God spared you for a reason. And you’ve been so faithful to tell your story and to really tell what you just said, that God is real. You experienced it in one of the most traumatic experiences in modern history.”

Genelle: “Yes.”

Interviewer: “That God was with you. Thank you so much for being so faithful to tell your story.”

Genelle: “Thank you for having me. I’m truly God’s walking miracle. I would say to people, and I don’t like people to say you’re lucky. I say I’m blessed because it’s all God’s grace. It’s all God’s grace.”

Interviewer: “The chances that 110 floors would come crashing down on you.”

Genelle: “Yeah.”

Interviewer: “And you would be just positioned where you could survive for 27 hours. That’s that’s got to be God. Amazing. Thank you so much. And Janelle, thank you so much for coming today to share your story.”

Genelle: “Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. God bless you all. Thank you.”