‘I survived 9/11... twice’
Jamaica-born engineer recalls September 11 horror with book launched ahead of 23-year anniversary
Published:Monday | September 9, 2024 | 12:07 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer -
As the United States (US) gets ready to commemorate the 23-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, one Jamaican who says he survived 9/11 twice is now out with a book detailing his experience of the world-changing event.
“I survived 9/11 not once, but twice. The first time by being fired from my job. The second time by recovering after getting sick on the site of that job.”
That’s the word from Jamaica-born consultant, engineer and former World Trade Center employee, Oral Patrick, who shares his story of escaping death, becoming ill and ultimately returning to health in his book , Restorative Healing Begins With Rest - Overcoming Breathing Difficulties and PTSD After 9/11 Exposure. The book is co-authored by his daughter, Deborah Patrick.
It chronicles Patrick’s battle with various ailments following his volunteer service over several months amid the ruins of the World Trade Center site, his former place of employment, after he avoided possible death by being fired from his job on September 10, 2001, less than 24 hours before the planes would smash into the Twin Towers.
In Restorative Healing Begins With Rest, he shares methods incorporating the resting of mind, body and spirit, which proved successful in his complete recovery after over a year of debilitating illness.
Better life
Born in Old Harbour, St Catherine, into a large family of eight siblings, Patrick attended Marlie Mount Primary and then Vere Technical High School. He would go on to The University Of The West Indies in Mona, St Andrew, where he attained his bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics in 1987.
Immediately following his graduation, his entire family immigrated to the US in their pursuit of the American dream, because his parents “thought that we would have a better life in the US”.
Despite episodes of homesickness, racism and employment challenges, Patrick said he gradually adjusted to his new country and never felt unsafe in the US. The thought of a major attack on the largest city in the nation never even occurred to him as a possibility.
But all of that was about to change.
On September 10, 2001, Patrick- by then residing in New Jersey- had been employed for three months as a computer systems engineer at Lava Trading Incorporated, located on the 83rd floor of One World Trade Center.
As he recalls, “My manager called me into the conference room shortly after 9 am. He said the company was in the process of doing layoffs and that I would be the first one to go. He asked me to sign my resignation letter and told security to escort me to my desk to collect my personal belongings. I packed my stuff and mustered the courage to salute the team goodbye as I left the office.”
While it was disappointing to share the news of his termination with his family- he had married his wife Angella by then and was now the father of three young children- on the very next day, September 11, he armed himself with resumes to go job hunting. He was heading into Manhattan in his car, when the unthinkable happened.
Twin Towers
“Shortly after 8 am., I was on the New Jersey Turnpike, and I glanced towards the Twin Towers in the distance, thinking of how I could be at work there right now if I hadn’t been fired the day before. Then as I looked again, I saw strange smoke emanating from the towers. So I turned my car radio on to a local news station to find out what was happening.”
He learnt that what was thought at the time to be a small plane that had hit the first tower turned out to be wrong.
Traffic was subsequently diverted and, unable to venture further into the city, he parked and entered a crowded deli nearby to watch the events on television. He was astonished to see the second plane hit not long afterwards. When, shortly after 9 a.m., the first tower crumbled on live TV and before his eyes, he fell to his knees, unable to process what he had just witnessed. By the time the second tower collapsed, he could only sit in stunned silence at the deli for several hours before heading home later that day.
Remarkably, within a week he found himself back at the site of the tragedy where his former place of employment was now just a large pile of rubble.
“I felt compelled to go back there to assist and to inquire about my former co-workers and other friends who worked nearby. I was relieved to discover later on that the manager who had fired me the day before had survived. I then became one of the unregistered volunteers who simply handed water to rescue workers or families of the victims as they departed from the site where they were searching for survivors or loved ones. I had seen many of them on the news congregating around the area, so I surmised that it was safe to go.”
It was not.
Noticed changes
Within a short period after visiting the site several times per week, Patrick noticed changes in his vision, breathing and skin tone. He was experiencing skin rashes and respiratory congestion and had become overweight and prediabetic. As months passed, he realised that conventional medical methods were not relieving his symptoms, which were in fact becoming worse. It was at this time that he poured himself into the world of natural healing, doing an in depth study of wellness and how to overcome chronic illnesses.
“After consulting with several natural health practitioners, I learnt that almost any device will work again if you unplug it for a while and then reboot it- even our bodies. So I decided to put rest to the test. ”
In one game-changing week after being exhausted and staying in bed with little or no food or activity, Patrick began to notice significant changes. His mood, sight, hearing, appearance and mental clarity had dramatically improved. His joints, previously arthritic, were pain free and more flexible when he moved around. Struggling at the time with brain fog and lack of mental clarity for a lengthy period while working on a manual writing project, he was now able to complete it within hours on one day.
After being unemployed and financially challenged during his illness, he began to dramatically turn his life around within the next two years by starting his own business- Patrick Internet Computer Systems.
A computer cybersecurity entity, it provided consultation services to Fortune 500 companies including AT&T, Citibank and the US Navy. He also established a real estate investment company to address the post 9/11 need for living space outside the city, and he began to share his message of physical and spiritual healing as pastor of Word Of Wisdom Church (WOW) in his community of Teaneck, New Jersey.
Power to heal
He was inspired to write Restorative Healing Begins With Rest by others with whom he shared his healing methods and who, he claims, have enjoyed similarly life changing results.
“I hope the takeaway from the book will be that readers gain the understanding of the body’s power to heal itself of degenerative and other diseases when we remove the interfering and agitating elements by resting. It’s very similar to turning off a computer and allowing it to rest for a few seconds before you reboot it in order to recover from a software glitch.”
He maintains that it was rest alone, in the broad sense of the trifecta of body, mind and spirit, that brought him back to health, stressing that “rest is not merely sleep. Resting the body involves avoidance of junk food in our diet as well as periodic fasting, so that the life force that normally goes towards digestion will go towards repairing the body instead. Resting the mind requires meditation which reduces and eliminates stress hormones such as cortisol, allowing the body to return to proper balance. Resting the spirit is about authentic and complete self acceptance, with full gratitude for who and what you are in totality, which allows you to be calmer and more centred. The book goes into great detail about this and much more.”
Further, recalling the events of that sad day, Patrick said that “unfortunately, in addition to those who perished in the buildings on the day the planes hit, many other rescuers and 9/11 volunteers subsequently died from respiratory, skin and digestive cancers caused by the toxins to which they were exposed at the site. I therefore feel doubly fortunate to be alive after being so close to everything that happened, and am happy to share my book and what I have learned in order to help others.”