Inside rescue worker Gordon Huie's 9/11 story: Shocking accounts of the only "triple survivor"

9/11 is remembered as a dark day in the history of the United States. 25 years ago, the al-Qaeda terrorist organization attacked both towers of the New York World Trade Center by crashing two planes into them. Amidst the chaos, a former orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Gordon Huie rescued the victims by performing triage and surgeries despite losing his sister, Susan Huie, who perished in Tower One during the attacks.

Dr. Huie is the only recorded "triple survivor" of the 9/11 attack. He survived the tragedy but lost a family member in the World Trade Center and later served others as a surgeon. During his visit to Gander, he spoke with CBC's Troy Turner and explained how he felt about helping people and also shared the actions he took to provide that help.

Continue reading more about the 9/11 story.

Dr. Gordon Huie's 9/11 rescue story

According to the CBC News, Huie is the only recorded "triple survivor" of the 9/11 attack. He shared that he left his office on 35th and Park Avenue and began walking downtown toward his meeting. When he looked up and saw the towers burning, he quickly changed direction and turned right toward the World Trade Center.

Then the doctor reached the base of Tower 2, and soon after, the tower exploded and collapsed. He survived the blast while standing on the street, but he quickly understood that there was little he could accomplish at Ground Zero. At that point, he decided to head toward the nearest emergency room at Beekman Hospital. He said he didn't work there, but others at the hospital identified him.

To quote his words:

"I went to Beekman Hospital. I don't work there, don't have privileges there. I identified who I was and they trusted me at my word."

Huie mentioned that the hospital administration provided him with the 4th floor conference room to perform surgery. Then the staff started sending patients one by one, and Huie began treating and stitching patients' wounds with only three sterile tools.

9/11 memory: Dr. Huie's sister died inside Tower 1

When Dr. Huie was treating the wounded patients, he got a call, which he didn't expect. Over the call, he was informed that his sister, Susan, had died inside Tower 1. On NBC News, he mentioned,

"Susan died in Tower one on 106th floor."

He added,

"I was very angry because someone attacked the country. Someone was killed by these people."

Susan often traveled for work, but on that day she was in a meeting at the Windows on the World Restaurant inside the World Trade Center. Huie recalled that Susan was on the 106th floor of Tower 1 when the plane struck between the 93rd and 99th floors. She had no idea that she was above the impact zone.

Huie explained that he did not intend to speak about the tragedy immediately after it occurred. He discovered the healing power of speaking about it only when he shared his experience during a medical speaking commitment in Philadelphia one month later.

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Read more: WNBC cameraman shares his experience on the 9/11 attack.

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