Nationwide — Genelle Guzman-McMillan, an African American woman who survived the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was buried beneath the World Trade Center for 27 hours before rescuers reached her. She had been trying to escape the North Tower after a hijacked plane struck the building. Her survival made her the last known person rescued alive from the rubble, and she later shared the experience in her memoir and a Lifetime movie based on her life.
Guzman-McMillan was 30 at the time and had been living in New York City for about two years after moving from Trinidad. She worked as a temporary employee for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on the 64th floor of the North Tower. When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the building at 8:46 a.m., she and other workers immediately began making their way down the stairs. As the evacuation continued, she knew the South Tower had also been hit by another plane.
Her escape ended on the 13th floor. Guzman-McMillan briefly stopped to take off her high heels, but the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m. She was suddenly buried beneath the wreckage and could no longer move or speak. Dust filled her mouth and nose, while debris pressed against her body and caused intense pain. She could hear people and activity around her but could not call out. With only her left hand free, she tried to move into a position that might make the pain easier to bear.
As the hours passed, she became convinced that no one would find her. “I felt like I was there forever,” she told People. “I just thought I was dreaming. I just figured this has to be a dream. This is not happening.” She eventually began preparing herself to die. Guzman-McMillan turned to prayer and thought about her daughter, Kimberly, who was 12 years old at the time. “I just keep begging and praying, just asking God to show me a miracle,” she recalled. Then, when she felt she could not endure any longer, she heard someone call out to her. The man told her his name was Paul and reached for her hand. “He hold onto my hand. And I hold on his hands,” she said. He reassured her that she would be fine and that he would not let her go.
Rescuers eventually freed Guzman-McMillan from the wreckage and took her to a hospital. She had a crushed right leg, a swollen and burned face and other injuries. She remained hospitalized for more than a month. Roger McMillan, her boyfriend at the time, stayed by her side throughout her recovery. While still in the hospital, she asked him to marry her. They married at City Hall on Nov. 7, 2001, less than two months after the attacks, and later renewed their vows with family and friends. They went on to have two daughters together while continuing to raise Kimberly. Guzman-McMillan also struggled with the fact that she survived while many of her co-workers did not. She later said, “I was given a new life,” and spoke about using that second chance to encourage others facing difficult times.
Her story eventually reached a wider audience through her 2011 memoir, Angel in the Rubble. It has now been adapted into the Lifetime movie Robin Roberts Presents Angel in the Rubble: The Genelle Guzman Story, with Sherri Shepherd portraying her. Guzman-McMillan and Roger attended a New York City screening in September 2026 ahead of the film’s Sept. 12 premiere. Her daughter Kimberly also recently spoke publicly about the attacks and what it was like to learn that her mother had been injured. Guzman-McMillan has continued to reflect on the rescue, including the mysterious man named Paul whom she later tried but failed to find. “So we’ve come to the conclusion that Paul truly was my angel,” she said. As of 2021, she was working as a Port Authority supervisor at LaGuardia Airport and living with her family on Long Island.