San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
After 9/11, she finds healing through helping
Vicky Mann started her day, Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001, like any other. A nursing student at the time, her mind was focused on her clinical rotation assignment, unaware of what was happening in the world around her.
“It was a beautiful September day in New York,” recalled Mann. She took the subway and then enjoyed a walk to Methodist Hospital in downtown Brooklyn, about 3 miles from the World Trade Center.
“I remember the nurses on the floor said, ‘Something’s happening. Turn on the TV,’ ” Mann said. From a television screen in the nurse’s lounge, she and her colleagues watched flames erupting from the World Trade Center. At first, she watched in confusion, but the horror that followed her realization was too much for her mind to comprehend.
She immediately went to God in prayer.
In the chaos that followed, she and her fellow students were sent home from the hospital. With public transportation at a standstill or filled beyond capacity, Mann had no choice but to walk. She witnessed firsthand the lifeless and numb expressions of survivors
fleeing from Manhattan. Twenty years after 9/11 she still remembers the relief she felt when all her family members were safely reunited that night. Days later, shock and grief for the loss of life would continue. “You felt for people,” she said.
Relief came from reaching out to help others who were struggling as she was.
“Everybody was feeling lost and uncertain of what to do going forward,” Mann said.
She realized that her faith helped her cope, and she wanted to help others find that comfort.
The ministry that she had shared in for years as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses took on a new role for her.
“What people needed most was for me to listen,” she said. “Then I could share a Bible verse that might give them a measure of peace, even if just for a few minutes.”
Helping others has long been linked to better emotional well-being in psychology research. The book “The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others” describes “powerful” effects, even for helpers who have experienced trauma themselves.
Trauma was all too common among Mann’s neighbors following the events of 9/11. “They all wanted to talk. At the same time, it was gutwrenching to hear their experiences,” she admitted.
However, helping others helped dispel her own anxieties. “It helped me to stay focused on the task at hand,” she said.
She was also soothed by knowing she shared comfort with others in their time of need. “A lot of people would say, ‘I feel so much better.’ That was comforting to know,” Mann said. “Being there to help others is helpful for you, too.”
Two decades later, she continues to find comfort from reaching out — this time in talking with pandemic-stressed neighbors.
“Both situations had such uncertainty because of not knowing what to do one day to the next,” she said regarding the events of 9/11 and the effects of the pandemic.
Mann is once again navigating uncertain times with her neighbors, this time in San Antonio, which she now calls home. She continues to find comfort in sharing positivity with those around her.
“I can’t change the pandemic,” she said, “but I can bring comfort. I can listen — hopefully making their lives just a little bit better. If we can do that, then we’ve done a good thing.”