Since 1960, Dr. Arthur Gudeon has been a podiatrist treating foot and ankle injuries for New Yorkers. At age 66, Dr. Gudeon jumped at the chance to help at Ground Zero. “I was looking to do something. I just felt so frustrated not being able to do anything to help.”
He then organized a podiatry clinic inside St. Paul’s Chapel adjacent to the World Trade Center. This church turned into a relief center for the Ground Zero workforce. In the pew where George Washington prayer when he was first inaugurated president, Dr. Gudeon tended to recovery workers’ burns, blisters, and sprains. He coordinated 6 to 8 hour shifts for himself and volunteer podiatrists across America to treat the constant stream. For example, a machinery technician wore through four pairs of work boots in two months because the heat from Ground Zero’s fires melted the soles off his shoes.
On patients who he would send home to rest for a few days, “They’d say, ‘Fix me up. I’m going back out.’ They wouldn’t stop.”
Dr. Gudeon is now battling chronic illnesses related to his exposure to toxins at Ground Zero and is still working today.
Image from 9/11 Memorial & Museum