Remembering 9/11: Spotlight on Local Physicians

EDINBURG,TX–Every year, the United States commemorates the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. Local physicians, Dr. Juan Manuel Ortiz and Dr. Ricardo Abrue were among the thousands of people in New York who witnessed the attack. 

In 2001, Ortiz was completing his residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. On Sept. 11, Ortiz was scheduled to complete his “Grand Round” presentation.

The physician recalled the day vividly and said it was one he will never forget. 

Ortiz arrived at his presentation at around 8 a.m. 

He said, “I was extremely nervous. I was up until 5 a.m. perfecting and practicing.”

Everything had been flowing smoothly, and going the way it was supposed to, when suddenly his long-awaited day changed drastically. 

According to millercenter.org the first plane hit the World Trade Center North Tower at about 8:46 a.m. Recalling the moment, Ortiz said, “Someone received a beeper from their family around the same time I was starting my presentation. It read, ‘A plane has just hit the World Trade Center.’ Everyone thought it was the most horrible accident. Planes pass through Manhattan all the time, so it must’ve been an accident. My presentation stopped suddenly, as the chief of the department made an announcement that the hospital was now in an emergency mode. There has been a huge accident. They then put the news on the screen I was supposed to be presenting on, and at the time where we were watching the first tower, the second plane hit the building. Everyone sat still.  I had two daughters back home in the apartment, and I was very scared, so I went running home on my bicycle. It was horrifying because we lived more or less the same distance from where the buildings were.” 

After the long and chaotic ride home, Ortiz arrived at his apartment. He found his family safe but watched the terrible scene in horror from his apartment’s balcony. 

“I could see the World Trade Center in flames,” he said. “I could see the hole of the airplane. I watched with my own eyes the first tower collapse. Mind you–this is around 20 blocks from my home. These were the tallest buildings in Manhattan, so it was tough to watch them collapse, and it was the most horrifying experience to just sit there and watch the two buildings collapse.” 

After spending some time with his family and making sure they were safe, Ortiz was called back to the hospital to help with patients. 

“The problem was that nobody knew it was going to happen,” he said. “This was new for everyone. I was in the department of medicine and on the critical care rotation for the day and in the ICU waiting for people to come. All elective surgeries were cancelled and all emergencies not related to the incident were then sent home. Sadly, we started seeing that the only people that were coming were already deceased. They were dead or with bad injuries that were going to kill them.The bulk of the people were just not alive, so it was a bad experience. I had to see everyone with respiratory problems, and I had to see all of them. It was a very busy 9/11.” 

Similarly, Abreu was living in New York, completing his fellowship at the time of 9/11. After completing his fellowship, Abreu said he was set to move to McAllen, Texas. His family was in Texas at the time of the attack on the World Trade Center, so he lived alone in New York. He also worked at Beth Israel Medical Center located on 16th and Press Avenue in lower eastern Manhattan and his sleep medicine fellowship was at St. Luke’s Medical Hospital in New York. His apartment was located on 23rd Street and Third Avenue.

Abreu said on that day, his plan was “to travel and do exercise. I would use my rollerblades, from 23rd Street all the way to 110. It was really nice because I would take the Hudson sidewalk, and it would take me about an hour and a half everyday. On that day (9/11) I was taking my backpack and my rollerblade. It was my usual day at the sleep center. Someone was watching the news and I heard them say that an airplane had just hit one of the Twin Towers.” 

He initially thought it was an accident.

“I never imagined it was a terrorist attack, but when the second tower was hit, everything just stopped,” Abreu said “Beth Israel Hospital called me and told me they needed help, so I grabbed my backpack, put on my rollerblades and went back down to Beth Israel Medical Center. To my surprise, there were a lot of people walking in the middle of the street. The avenues were full of people walking up because the transit stopped. So I was going south on my rollerblades with all these people, rolling up the island. There was real hysteria as you can imagine.” 

He shared a specific incident with a policeman. 

He said,“He grabbed me and told me, ‘You can’t go this way! There was a terrorist attack. You can’t go this way!’ I had my scrubs on so I said, ‘Listen, I am on call. I am an intensivist; I need to go and help.’ He insisted that I do not go this way, I said, ‘Sorry, sir. I have to go,’ and I just took off. He was so hysterical as he yelled at me. Even the police were hysterical.” 

Once Abreu reached the hospital he said, “To my surprise, there were a ton of people covered in dust. So covered that you could only see their eyes. A lot of people came in with respiratory issues, since there was so much smoke inhalation.”

His brother, George Abreu, was in his apartment visiting and when he heard the news of the accident, he stepped outside on the balcony and captured images of the towers being hit and eventually falling. 

In terms of how different New York and the country were after this incident, both physicians had something to say about the major changes in their everyday lives. 

Abreu said, “Due to the new security protocols, and tons of flights cancelled, it took me a month and a half or more to get a plane ticket to Texas. From that day on in New York, everyone was mellow and sad. There was a lot of anxiety.” 

Oritz added, “After the incident, I tried to visit Ground Zero, but there were policemen everywhere. They were still digging up bodies weeks later. I then thought to my self, ‘This is stupid,’ and turned back. But around that area, there was nobody there. I will never forget the smell of dust. Three or four weeks later the smell of dust was just simmering from the wreckage. So, life after was different. Nobody would go out; there was nothing to buy; it was difficult to find water. I remember it was a moment of chaos in New York City. There was a significant change in pace from the last three years of life that I was accustomed to.” 

According to millercenter.org, 2,977 people died in what was “the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor.” The people of New York did not suffer alone. The country watched in utter fear that day as the country saw the two tallest buildings in Manhattan fall in flames.  

9/11 will forever serve as a commemoration to the people that lost their lives on that day.