A day of terror, a life of courage: Rafael Hernandez’s story

On September 11, 2001, Rafael Hernandez was strolling through New York City with some friends visiting from Mexico.

The weather was perfect, and it was supposed to be a peaceful day.

When terrorists crashed planes into the towers, Rafael knew there was only one thing for him to do: help.

Bravery and courage in the face of cruelty and danger

As reported in this Fox News article, Rafael quickly ran to the nearby fire station, showed his Mexican firefighter badge and offered to help. The NY firefighters needed all the help they could get, so they gave him his gear, and they all ran to the towers ablaze by fire. They ran through NYC’s chaotic downtown and straight into danger.

“I smelled the smoke, and the smell, the smell of fire, sent me running toward it,” Hernandez recalled.

Rafael got to what soon would be known as Ground Zero. He and a group of fellow heroes went up to the North Tower. Thousands of innocent people were trying to flee what, up to that day, were the symbols of American prosperity and wealth.

All knew the risks of going, but up they went.

After climbing 28 sets of stairs, one of the captains of the team told Rafael he could not go any further as he did not have the necessary equipment. Shortly after, Rafael saw a terrified nine-month-pregnant woman; her water broke, and she could not get out of the tower that would soon collapse.

He vowed he would not leave her alone and carried her down the 28 set of stairs he had just walked up. Rafael shielded her from all the chaos and got her out of the North Tower and into an ambulance.

A few minutes later, the towers came crashing down.

More than 2,700 Americans died that day, and around 250 of them were Latinos. But thanks to Rafael, a woman and her child were saved.

A life of service

Instead of returning home, he knew there was much more work to be done. He stayed with the hundreds of people who stayed, looked for survivors, and helped the city clean up the debris from the attacks.

Ground zero was covered by toxic dust from the towers. Hundreds of volunteers, many of them Latinos, breathed that dust as they worked tirelessly to rebuild New York City back from the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.

The bravery he saw in New York City that day inspired him to a life of service. In 2005 he went to New Orleans to help the thousands of people whose lives were ravaged by hurricane Katrina.

No one asked him to do it, but he did it anyway.

Rafael survived September 11th, but he did not survive the attacks. The clouds of toxic dust that covered Ground Zero and that Rafael inhaled would destroy his lungs and irrevocably wreck his health.

He could no longer walk a few paces without losing his breath, and he was forced to sleep hooked to a respirator to prevent him from choking. Sadly, Rafael’s lungs were not strong enough to keep him alive, and he eventually died of respiratory complications in September 2011.

Today, we solemnly remember those who died at the hands of crazed terrorists and those who bravely risked and gave their lives to help others.

We remember heroes like Rafael Hernandez, who responded to humanity’s most cruel and vicious traits with unparalleled courage and bravery.