9/11 Friends
Are you a helper of the helpless? Would you lay down your life for a friend in need? Today I’d like to share a story about 9/11 that’s not often told. It’s about two remarkable friends – Abe, a courageous young man, and Ed, a fellow quadriplegic. Abe and Ed were on the 27th floor of the World Trade Center on September 11th, when Ed heard a tremendous boom above him and he felt the building shake. When he saw debris falling from the ceiling, he knew something awful had happened. Two men immediately came to help Ed in his power wheelchair. It wasn’t going to be easy trying to carry him down the narrow stairs – he weighed nearly 300 pounds. Recognizing the risks, Ed decided to wait for the fire fighters. One of the men left, but the other, Ed’s good friend Abe, decided to stay until the firemen came and could properly carry his friend. Did Ed insist that Abe leave and follow the others? We don’t know. But even if Ed had, Abe would have stayed. Their friendship was that deep, and he would not think of leaving the side of his helpless friend.
Ed and Abe waited and waited, not realizing that the firemen had to fight through stairwells that were clogged with debris. While they waited, Abe called his family and explained that he was staying by the side of his quadriplegic friend until help arrived. Abe’s mother begged him to evacuate, but he was determined to stay and help Ed. That’s the last contact anyone had with those two guys—they were the only ones remaining on the 27th floor. Sadly, in a short time, the World Trade Center collapsed, and the 27th floor disappeared in the roar and the rumble. Neither Ed nor Abe made it out of the building.
I think you can see why their story touched me so because I’m a quadriplegic like Ed. And I know I have friends who are like Abe. I know these precious friends would take any risk and make any sacrifice to help me, even if I were in terrible danger. These friends are true helpers of the helpless, and Jesus spoke about them in John 15:13, where it says, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It’s why today on 9/11 when we remember the heroes, the true patriots of that terrible day, I am remembering a man named Abe who could have saved himself, but he did not. Because of love, he courageously chose to stay by the side of his quadriplegic buddy until the very end.
