September 11’s Last Found Survivor Still Stands Tall

Carrie Bergonia of Pennsylvania looks over the name of her fiance, firefighter Joseph Ogren at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies for the twelfth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2013 in New York City. The nation is commemorating the anniversary of the 2001 attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one crash landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Following the attacks in New York, the former location of the Twin Towers has been turned into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Photo by Chris Pedota-Pool/Getty Images

While the world was still reeling from 9/11, and Ground Zero cleanup efforts were underway, a last, lone survivor was found underneath the rubble.

Rescue workers and first responders didn’t just take care of human lives, they also found a lone Callery pear tree burnt and covered in rubble. The only thing left of the tree at that time was an eight-foot wounded survivor with cracked branches and a charred body.