[The below resonant memories of 9/11 come from Dr. Ellen Coyne, former Chairman of the Board of the New York Chiropractic Council. For me, September 11, 2001 was the darkest day in a 34-year career in law enforcement. The images and the memories have never left me. They never will.
Over the years, I have quietly remembered that day and the days that followed. It has taken me years to realize the lessons of 9/11. I’ve learned that the only way to work through trauma and suffering is through service to others.
Our nation’s chiropractors knew that on Day One and came to serve. What follows is a story that has not been told but should have been. The MAHA Report is proud to bring readers a story of how our nation’s chiropractors stepped up and provided care to those who worked the mound, the bucket brigade, and never stopped trying to rescue people, recover remains and restore the wound in our nation’s soul.
This is what our chiropractors did for those brave men and women.]
— Louis Conte, Health Freedom Editor
By Dr. Ellen Coyne, Former Chairman of the Board, NY Chiropractic Council
There are certain moments in life that divide everything into “before” and “after.”
September 11, 2001, is one of those moments.
I remember that day with extraordinary clarity. I was Chairman of the Board of the New York Chiropractic Council when the attacks on New York City took place. Like millions of other people, I watched in disbelief as our city—and our country—was forever changed.
But something else happened that day, too.
Almost immediately, the telephone at the New York Chiropractic Council began ringing.
Chiropractors from all over the United States—and eventually from around the world—were calling us.
“What are you doing to help?”
“How can we help?”
Those calls were the beginning of an extraordinary chapter in my life and, I believe, one of the finest demonstrations of the heart and spirit of the chiropractic profession.
The Calls Began
We knew we had to do something.
We began organizing almost immediately. We needed equipment and supplies, and the chiropractic community responded. Harvey Supply, a local vendor that had always been a tremendous supporter of chiropractic, donated adjusting tables, headrest paper, and other supplies.
We established five respite centers in the area around Ground Zero.
Then we started putting together schedules.
The goal was simple: someone would always be there.
Chiropractors worked around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And that effort continued for nine months.
We cared for the people who were doing the unimaginable work of cleaning up, searching, rescuing, rebuilding, and trying to make sense of what had happened.
Firefighters.
Police officers.
Sanitation workers.
Volunteers.
And so many other first responders and workers who were giving everything they had.
They Came From Everywhere
What I remember most vividly is that the chiropractors didn’t wait to be asked twice.
They came.
They came from every state in America and from seven foreign countries.
Many closed their own practices. They left their offices, their patients, their families, and their everyday lives behind. They paid their own way to New York.
They didn’t come because they were going to be paid.
They didn’t come because they expected recognition.
They came because they wanted to help.
There is something incredibly moving about seeing doctors who have never met one another come together with one common purpose: to take care of people who desperately needed them.
That was chiropractic at its best.
Working With the Red Cross
We also had the opportunity to work with the American Red Cross in a way that was unprecedented for our profession.
Every chiropractor was credentialed. Licenses and malpractice insurance were verified, and we received laminated identification badges with our photographs.
It gave us the ability to enter the area and provide care in a coordinated and professional manner.
At first, there was some resistance from the police about allowing us into certain areas.
But the firefighters insisted.
They knew what chiropractic care could do for people who were physically exhausted, injured, and under tremendous strain. They advocated for us and made sure we were allowed to help.
And before long, the police officers became some of our greatest supporters as well.
They used our services again and again.
Remembering Our Own Way
Our annual chiropractic convention was scheduled only a few weeks after September 11.
It was going to be held at the Brooklyn Marriott in downtown Brooklyn.
There was no way we could simply have a normal convention.
We needed to remember.
We organized a tribute and walked together to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
Across the East River was the Manhattan skyline.
But the two towers were gone.
We stood there looking toward Ground Zero, holding candles and saying prayers.
There was grief.
There was silence.
There was disbelief.
But there was also a tremendous sense of togetherness.
We were New Yorkers.
We were Americans.
And we were chiropractors who had come together to serve.
One Year Later
The following year, we continued our remembrance at our convention.
We organized a boat ride and invited police officers, firefighters, bagpipers, and others to join us.
We traveled together on the water and stopped near the Statue of Liberty.
Once again, we remembered September 11.
Among our guests were Dr. D. D. Humber and Ron Hendrickson from the ICA.
It was another opportunity to honor the people who had been lost and the heroes who had worked so tirelessly in the aftermath.
What I Learned
When I look back now, 25 years later, I realize that September 11 taught me many things.
It taught me about courage.
It taught me about loss.
It taught me about the extraordinary generosity of strangers.
But perhaps most importantly, it taught me something about the profession I had devoted my life to.
I saw chiropractors from across America and around the world put everything else aside because their fellow human beings needed them.
They didn’t ask what they would receive in return.
They simply asked where they could go and what they could do.
That spirit has stayed with me all these years.
We have an amazing profession.
A profession filled with people who give for the sake of giving and love for the sake of loving.
Twenty-five years later, I am still deeply proud of what our profession did after September 11.
I am proud of every chiropractor who came to New York.
I am proud of those who left their practices and traveled across the country.
I am proud of those who worked long hours, day after day, caring for the people who were trying to put our city back together.
And I am proud that when our fellow human beings needed us, we came.
We showed up.
We served.
We cared.
And we remembered.
September 11 changed all of our lives.
But it also showed me something I will carry with me forever:
The heart of chiropractic is the heart of service.
And after all these years, I can say it with even greater pride:
I am so proud to be a chiropractor.
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