NYPD Hero's Legacy Lives On Through Daughter's Courageous Path

On the morning of September 11, 2001, photographer Jennifer S. Altman was driving down the FDR Drive on her way to an assignment in Brooklyn covering the mayoral primary when she saw the World Trade Center go up in flames. She left her car at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and ran toward the towers while thousands of people ran the opposite direction. The second plane roared low over her head. She headed for the corner of Fulton and Church streets, where she knew survivors would be brought out.

Altman's photographs from that day ran in Newsweek's coverage of the attacks, have been honored with awards, and hang in the 9/11 Memorial Museum and the New York City Police Museum.

One image is of NYPD Officer Ramon Suarez carrying Crystal Tyson to safety from the 49th floor where she worked for a bank. It is the last known photograph of him alive. Moments later, he returned to the tower just before it collapsed.

In the years since that day, Altman has remained in touch with many of the people she photographed and their families. She recently returned to the corner of Fulton and Church with Tyson, now 56, and Officer Suarez’s wife, Carmen, 67, and daughter, Jillian, 34, who is today an NYPD detective wearing her father’s badge number, to reflect on his memory and the events of that tragic day.

Crystal Tyson, on the descent:

I first encountered Officer Ramon in the stairwell where there was water running down the stairs. I ended up losing my footing and falling down a couple of stairs. I remember Officer Ramon picking me up, literally, and carried me the rest of the way because when we got down to the lobby, it was full of glass and water, and I had on sandals. And once we got through the revolving doors, he said, “Don't look down, don't look down.” And, of course, if someone tells you not to look down, you look down. And that's when I saw, unfortunately, some bodies of people who jumped out of the towers over us. And he proceeded to carry me the rest of the way in front of the Millennium Hotel to ambulances that were waiting for injured people. He put me in the ambulance, and he made sure they connected me to oxygen. And his last words were, “You're going to be OK,” and then I didn’t see him again and later found out that he went back into the towers to continue to help other people.

I never made it to the hospital, because, going off of my own intuition, I disconnected myself from the oxygen tank because I just felt too much vibration, and I got out of the ambulance and proceeded to walk maybe half a block. That’s when I turned and saw people running towards me and a cloud of soot — it looked like a tornado coming behind them. I couldn’t run, but I was moving as fast as I could and, next thing you know, I was fully covered. Later on, as weeks went by, I found out that that particular ambulance actually blew up and glass from the Millennium Hotel had [fallen] down on it. So, I'm glad I listened to myself and got up out of the ambulance.

Carmen Suarez, on the moment she understood:

I worked on Fifth Avenue, by the Saks Fifth Avenue. And I was running late. Ray always would meet me at Essex-Delancey Street [subway station], to just say good morning. But I was running late that day, so when I got there at ten to 9, he had already gone up the staircase to hail a cab to come to the buildings where he heard it over the radio. So, I must have missed him by a split second. I proceeded to go to work and I just saw how people were looking up at the sky. And that's when I went inside a building and they told me that the Twin Towers were attacked. And I'm like, what? They said there's a fire. And then when I walked outside to see, that's when I saw [the second] plane hit.

And I just remember being around people and I said, “We must pray.” And that's what we did. I went back inside to my office, and everybody was just in chaos mode. We had to close down the office. We had to find ways to get home. I saw it on the television when the buildings fell and at that moment all I thought of was, “I know I'm not seeing my husband because he's going to be working a lot of overtime,” because that's who he was: He will jump into action and go there and help whoever he had to help.

It took me hours to get home. I picked up my daughter at school, Jillian, and then I went home around 3 p.m. and then someone called me and asked if I had heard from Ray. And I said, “No, what’s happening?” And they said, “Carmen, he’s one of the missing.” And at that moment, I literally passed out on my porch. I was just screaming. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I didn’t believe that he was gone.

And then the following morning, they told me, “Carmen, you must be so proud of him. Look what he was doing.” And the first picture that I saw was of Crystal Tyson and the way Ray was taking her out. I saw the picture and I couldn’t say anything because that’s not what I wanted to see. I just wanted him there.

It was very difficult after that. I didn't know how to tell our little girl that Daddy wasn't coming home. I didn't really tell her until December, because I had hoped that he would come out. I was in denial for quite some time, and I just didn't want to do anything, no memorials, nothing, until they brought me something of him. And three months later, he was found on December 19th. He was found with someone else that he was trying to save. The person who was right next to him.

Jillian Suarez, on wearing the uniform:

I saw the photo when I was around nine years old. I'm pretty sure my mom and my family showed me what Daddy was doing. And, unfortunately, at such a young age, I didn't understand the significance at that time. But as I grew older, I realized how amazing that photo really was and now, being on the job, it gets me a bit differently because I'm wearing the same uniform that he's wearing and I'm doing the same thing that he's done and I could picture myself doing exactly what he did that day.

Hearing the story and being a little girl at the time, I could picture my dad from the moment she said that he picked her up, I could picture him doing exactly that. And it feels great to know that my dad was that person to save her. She was able to go home that day, and even though my dad didn't get to make it home with us, we were able to connect in a different way. We've somewhat healed each other and able to come together and understand each other in ways that people can't understand.

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Jillian, on the 25th anniversary of the attacks:

This year I feel like it hits a little harder, now that I'm older and I am in a chapter in my life where I am getting married, after seeing my friends getting married and seeing them have that dance with their dad and knowing that I wouldn't have that. I truly can't believe it's been so long, it truly feels like it's just happened. It just shows you how you don't move on from things, you just move forward. Grief can either strengthen you or it can break you, and it's up to your choice.

Being in the career, the biggest lesson I've been taught is, you think you're gonna go home and see your loved ones, but you really don't know when that time is up for you. It's sad to think about but, being so young and having to deal with something so tragic and so traumatic, I tell everyone don't take what you have for granted.

Carmen, on watching her daughter follow in her father’s footsteps:

When she told me that she wanted to become a cop, I couldn't have been more proud of her. She said, “Mom, I want to wear Daddy's badge,” and I'm like, “And you shall.” When she graduated, that probably was one of the proudest moments I ever had experienced.

Carmen, on grief:

To me, 25 years doesn't mean anything, because it still feels like yesterday, because that empty chair will always be there. There's no time span for grief. There never has been and there never will be. There's nothing wrong with grieving someone that you love, because that's what grief means. It means love. It's loving someone that's not here anymore. I take my grief, and I channel it someplace else that's going to give me a better purpose in life and to give back to others.

And that's exactly what my foundation is about. It's about giving back. It's about remembering all those victims. Not just my husband's legacy, but everyone that died on that day. It's about never forgetting.

Crystal, on revisiting the site:

My mindset at the time was to help people the way I was helped to still be here amongst the living. And that's what I do now. I started out in internal medicine, and now I'm in radiology. I'm not going to say how many lives I have left. I'm just still fortunate to still be here because so far, I'm continuing to conquer everything that's coming my way, thankfully.

Being honest, I don't come down here. This is probably the third time I've come down here. I think I was invited once [to an annual memorial], but I've never come. I feel like it's more for the family.

Carmen, with an invitation:

If you want to come this year, I will make sure that you will be with us. But it’s up to you. Not everyone can be ready enough to come here. So, it’s when you’re ready. If you’re ready, we're gonna be here to carry you. Because you are family.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.