09/10/2008 8:30 am

POV

Sept. 11 Attack Survivors Grapple With Scarred Lives

Wikipedia

Lauren Manning was newly married and the mother of a 10-month-old boy when a fireball slammed into her in the lobby of the World Trade Center almost seven years ago. With burns covering more than 80 percent of her body, Manning spent weeks on her deathbed, and months recovering in the hospital.

She’s alive today. While her body is still full of scars — she often wears long-sleeved blouses and pants to cover them — and she has titanium pins in her limbs, Manning knows she is lucky to be alive.

The New York Times reports that Manning and many other survivors of the September 11, 2001, attacks are still searching for a sense of normalcy while grappling with their continuous emotional and physical pain — and their new leases on life.

"Through the grace of the people in my life, I am able to conduct what appears at first glance in many ways more normal than it is beneath the surface," said Manning, who said the smallest nick in her healed skin may cause infection. "My husband, he’s been my hands."

While there is no clear account of how many people were seriously injured that day, burns accounted for 40 of the 2,680 injury payments totaling $7 billion distributed by the federal government to victims.

Some victims are having a harder time than others getting back to their lives, and they endure long sessions of physical therapy and psychotherapy.

Elaine Duch, who was a senior administrative assistant in the real estate department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, cut herself off from her old friends partly because, she said, "I’m never going to be the Elaine that I used to be."

9 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

gulliverfourmyle
Only those who have lost such, and know that finality, may ever understand the pain ‘self-awareness’ brings. We may sleep, dreaming of a happy past, only to wake, once again, to the horror of ‘now’. Others, yet intact, will never understand—-how can they? I have not cried over much with age—-Ms. Duch’s fate brought its own ‘sea-of-tears’—-as so much in Life. I may only offer hope—-that those who suffer most ‘here’, gain more in the future of what seems a ‘provable’ Heaven—-gwf
By gulliverfourmyle on 09/10/2008 9:45 am
NoKillandDrillPalin
Beautiful, Gulliver. Thank you.
By NoKillandDrillPalin on 09/11/2008 2:47 am
ChromeToe
Beautifully said Gulliver
By ChromeToe on 09/10/2008 11:15 am
gulliverfourmyle
I thank you ladies—-your thoughts mean much to me—-don’t see many positives responses in what has become a totalitarian police-state—-we may only hope they ‘get-smart’ vs. Chaos—-i don’t know—-
By gulliverfourmyle on 09/11/2008 3:24 am
JamestheGame
And Osama’s still running free, despite Bush’s promise to the American people that he’d hunt him down. I do believe that McCain would go after bin Laden more vigorously than Bush, but would he also go after al-Qaeda along the Afghan/Pakistani border more vigorously than in Iraq? Very questionable.
By JamestheGame on 09/10/2008 12:32 pm
gulliverfourmyle
when it comes to war? sane people are hard to find. a recently passed Nam Vet, married, children—-and a big-guy, so he packed the .50 cal—-i asked him, for three tours. ‘Why?’ he simply said, ‘Americans love to fight.’ seems to be our present plight—-remins of an old Dryden (1631-1700) short poem —-All, All of a Piece—- All, all of a piece throughout: Thy chase had a beast in view; Thy wars brought nothing about; Thy lovers were all untrue. ‘Tis well an old age is out, And time to begin a new.——
By gulliverfourmyle on 09/11/2008 3:47 am
JuanitaWard
I believe everything with the GOP, is questionable, even now. We do not have to look back, and see what has happen since 9/11.. On that day many lives was dis-connected. I wonder about the children, that lost their moms,dads and other family members. I have cried many times over the fact they could not even say, good-bye.But given the chance, I believe Obama, will find, Osama.
By JuanitaWard on 09/10/2008 9:03 pm
kermieb
The night of 9/10, D. called me right before going to sleep. He said he had to get up early for a conference call and would be at work around 7AM. He worked in building 7 of the WTC. The day of 9/11, I received so many phonecalls, my sister begging me to come Upstate, work telling me not to come in for what turned out to be three days (bridges and tunnels were closed, trains stopped), a friend in California crying because she was so confused, but no phonecall from D.; I was frantic. In the street outside my apartment building there was an eerie silence. No planes. When I finally heard planes, I knew they were military. There were soldiers and FBI all over the neighborhood. It was beyond surreal. The only thing I could do was try to get D. on his cellphone. I watched television. Tower One had television antennae for the city, so I got only one channel. It meant watching the attack over and over again and every time the planes hit, my head jerked back instinctively, but it was so shocking I needed to try to understand the senseless. I felt blank as I waited for news from friends and relatives. The cell towers were so jammed; I finally heard from D. seven hours later. He had overslept and his car was stuck on the 59th St. Bridge when he saw the planes hit. He never oversleeps. A higher power was looking out for us that day. I will never forget the panic and wait for people to come out of the Towers. I knew people who volunteered and said later what a horrible feeling it was when no one showed up at Chelsea Piers, where an emergency ER had been set up. Everyone is scarred by that day, no matter where they live. The senseless destruction and fear never went away—it got a little more tolerable. In my opinion, the war should have ended years ago. Bring our troops home.
By kermieb on 09/11/2008 5:33 am
RainbowPower
I will never forget that day. I didn’t live there nor was I close, but my love for mankind brought me in touch with those lives who were involved. I remember crying for the people who died and were hurt, especially the babies. I know that I have never felt so patriotic in my life as I did in the days following 9-11. And the only good thing that happened from this tragedy was that it brought Americans closer together. Where has that gone? Freedom/liberty must continue.
By RainbowPower on 09/11/2008 8:43 am