The year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic World Trade Center attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in a matter of minutes on Sept. 11, 2001. One of the darkest days for the U.S., the following months and years to come would be ridden with talks of war, acts of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments, and the mourning of several people affected one way or another by the events of that fateful day.
Colombia-born father of two, William Jimeno, is one of the few survivors that lived to tell his story. At the time of the attacks, Jimeno, who has one daughter and an expecting wife, was nine months into his position as a Port Authority Police detective in New York.
Out of the 39 Port Authority officers who were sent to the World Trade Center to rescue people, only two of them made it out alive, Jimeno and sergeant John McLoughlin, thanks to a couple of retired Marines that took it upon themselves to search through the scores of hot steel and concrete.
Their experiences were documented in the 2006 Oliver Stone film World Trade Center, starring Nicholas Cage as McLoughlin and Michael Peña as Will Jimeno. The 9/11 tragedy was also documented in Jimeno’s book, Sunrise Through The Darkness: A Survivor’s Account of Learning To Live Again Beyond 9/11.
Not only did Jimeno lose several co-workers and friends on 9/11, but the years that followed nearly took his mind. His mental health deteriorated as he came to realize the events that occurred that day. The overwhelming grief and survivor’s remorse, combined with a soon-to-be diagnosed PTSD condition, seem to be a resonating extension of torture that was unfairly prohibiting Jimeno from appreciating his life.
Death is already difficult to deal with, so imagine being dead while alive. Fast-forward to 2021 and there are people suffering from another life altering world event, the Covid-19 pandemic. Many have been ridden with illness, while others have lost loved ones, jobs, and their mental health.
Although the majority of the world wasn’t under the suffocating rubble of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, now he knows that everyone will experience their own World Trade Center at some point in their lives.
“Whatever tragic event is happening in your life, at that moment, you have your own World Trade Center,” Jimeno told Politico. “It’s what you do with ourselves – what we do with ourselves to overcome those. And that’s why I tell people if you’re going to look at my story – or our story as I like to refer to it – look at it that these two individuals, who were not supposed to come out from underneath these immense towers, but they did. And they’ve been able to somehow, someway find happiness.”
It’s an unbelievable thought of empathy that despite Jimeno’s own problems and traumatizing experience he still has the humanity to consider what other people are going through. And his sentiments are much needed — especially at this time. Jimeno has coped with his reality by obtaining therapy, writing his thoughts and feelings down, and incorporating a healthier lifestyle that includes exercise and investing more in his hobbies.
Jimeno continued, “I want to teach people today that no matter what your World Trade Center is, you can learn to live with that and you can live a good life.”
No matter what you’re going through — unemployment, food insecurity, deteriorating mental and physical health, the loss of loved ones, or self-doubt — if you can look up, you can get up. You just have to remember that your life matters. What you do with the remainder of it could inspire someone in the world.
