Genelle Guzman-McMillian was the last person pulled from the rubble of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks 13 years ago. She said God has given her a miraculous second chance, which she’s used to remind others that life is not promised.
Guzman-McMillian was trapped under the rubble of the first tower for nearly 27 hours with her leg crushed under debris. She remembers being able to only lift her fingers to the surface of the rubble to signal for help. A man named Paul grabbed her hand, called her name and told her he was there for her.
But after rescue workers unearthed her, she noticed that there was no way a person could’ve gotten in or out of the area where she was trapped. She believes she had an angelic encounter, and to this day no one has been able to locate the man named Paul.
“We looked all over and that person never came forward,” she said. “I know I was not sleeping. I know it was real. I know it was him.”
Guzman-McMillian details her miraculous testimony in her 2011 book, Angel in the Rubble.
“I take that experience as truly a wake-up call. I know God saved me for a reason; it has to be a plan and purpose for me here,” she says, recalling how she told God that she’d dedicate her life to Him if He’d rescue her.
Guzman-McMillan kept true to her promise. She immediately joined a church and began serving God. She attends Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York and travels the world telling her testimony and encouraging people not to put off their salvation as she had done: “I always said I’ll become a Christian and find Jesus at the age of 60 when I can’t dance and dress up and party no more.
“I had set that goal for my life and when I tell my story to people they really see with me that it’s not about you. It’s not about what we want but it’s about Jesus Christ and what He wants us to do in this life that we’re living.”
