Comedian, writer, and actor Colin Jost’s mother, Dr. Kerry Kelly, was the Chief Medical Officer of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) on September 11, 2001, when the city was shaken by the terror attacks. At the time, she had already served 20 years with the FDNY.According to the 911memorial.org website, Dr Kelly set up a medical triage center on Broadway, near City Hall, on that fateful day. She also:“Worked tirelessly to ensure adequate protection for rescue and recovery workers and then to address the consequences of their exposure to toxins.”In his 2020 memoir, A Very Punchable Face, Colin Jost wrote that his mother rushed to Ground Zero to help with the rescue efforts that eventually claimed the lives of 343 FDNY firefighters, including Jost’s future SNL castmate Pete Davidson’s father, Scott Davidson.Dr. Kerry Kelly is now a health advisor for the 9/11 Museum and Memorial and helps care for thousands of individuals who have gotten sick in the decades since the tragedy.According to the website, more than 400,000 people were exposed to toxic air near Ground Zero and 49,000 first responders were diagnosed with World Trade Center Health-certified cancers. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAs of December 2024, approximately 140,000 people from all 50 states were enrolled in the WTC Health Program, which was launched as part of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act in 2011 during the Obama administration.Exploring Colin Jost’s mother’s first-person account of 9/11As part of a 9/11 Anniversary Digital Learning Experience, Dr Kerry Kelly and her husband Daniel A. Jost, a retired NYC public school teacher, offered their first-person accounts of the terror attacks.“On the morning of 9/11, I was at the hospital making rounds; received a notification that a plane had gone into the building at the World Trade Center. At the same time, on the television, I could see the fire coming out of one of the World Trade Center towers… I got into my car and I drove into Manhattan,” Kelly began.Meanwhile, Jost, who worked at Staten Island Technical School, recalled:“I was in class and my assistant principal came to the doorway and he said, ‘Well, don’t overreact, don’t show any emotion. We really don’t have much information, but there’s a plane that hit the WTC.’ And as I was looking into the computer for some information… I had no realization that Kerry was involved in this situation or if she was in peril.”Colin Jost’s mom said that as she reached the site, she saw “burnt fuselage” and “debris” down by the WTC. His dad recalled Colin calling him from college and asking if Kerry was okay, while his younger brother Casey was still in high school in Staten Island.“It was a very difficult day because debris was falling in every direction. It was perilous being on the street at the time. As I crossed the street looking for the command center, someone said, ‘The tower is falling.’ I looked up and saw the tower coming down. I went close to one of the buildings and stood there as the debris went down. I remember thinking I can’t believe I am alive. And the day had become night. It was pitch black,” the ex-FDNY Chief Medical Officer reminisced.Colin Jost's mom said that she took shelter at a nearby building when the second tower came down and later managed to call her family to let them know that she was alive.“After 9/11, there was certainly a feeling of camaraderie among all the members looking for people whom we lost, working together and trying to address both the physical and mental health issues that had arisen. And that became a very important part of our job in the medical office: to ensure that people could get the protection they needed,” Dr Kelly stated.Colin Jost’s mother recalled flying to Washington, D.C., to “fight for funding” for the survivors and the victims’ families.Dr. Kerry Kelly went on to serve 37 years with the FDNY, including the last 24 as Chief Medical Officer. In fact, she was the first woman to have served in the role. According to Irish America magazine, Kerry’s father was a retired FDNY Lieutenant and her grandfather was a firefighter. One of her three brothers also worked for the FDNY. She was born in the Our Lady of Good Council Parish on the North Shore of Staten Island and grew up in an Irish-Italian neighborhood. Kelly later attended Vassar College and Brown University before dedicating her life to serving New Yorkers. Today, she is also a family physician in Staten Island.“There’s no way it wouldn’t affect me. I’m happy to be here; we all lost so many people we were close to,” Colin Jost’s mom told the magazine in 2002.Part of the reason the Saturday Night Live host wrote about his mother in his memoir was that she never wanted the spotlight. In fact, the very first chapter, “Why I Love My Mom”, focused on Kelly’s 9/11 firsthand experience. The book mentions many of his mom’s colleagues who helped save her life and those who died in the line of duty.In September 2023, Kerry told NBC New York:“He wrote that chapter because he felt I was not telling it.”Colin Jost's mother further spoke with News 4 and noted:“I think the concept of never forget is important. I always say 9/11 hasn’t ended… I go for monitoring. One of the important programs is monitoring because we always said we cannot change the exposures you had.” View this post on Instagram Instagram PostMeanwhile, Colin Jost shared in an interview with Howard Stern that his mother has been “long-term heroic to people in the fire department” and not just 9/11.Colin Jost, 44, has been a longtime head staff writer on SNL and co-anchor of Weekend Update. He is married to actress Scarlett Johansson and the couple shares a 5-year-old son.The 9/11 attacks killed a total of 2,977 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania.