I was visiting a patient who was having a flare of her rheumatoid arthritis, so rather than her struggling to clinic I went to her. On the way over there (it was only a matter of crossing town and it was around 1.45pm so traffic was light) it became apparent from that something was happening in New York, but when you turn on the radio in the middle of something confusing, it remains just that, confusing. The patient though had the TV on and while I was at her house, administering a gold injection, I witnessed a plane crash into one of the twin towers. Later back at the hospital many people stood around a ward TV and saw the towers crash to the ground one after the other. Our team secretary was frantically phoning her son, on a years work experience in New York to find out if he was alright (he was thankfully) and we wandered around in shock. The distance to New York became nothing, this might as well have been happening in London, as we all felt the impact, as the shock reverberated around the world.

9/11 was a defining moment in our lives. Much that has happened since in terms of politics, war and world evens has happened in the way it has due to the events of that day. Wars have started, other terrorist events have taken place and we have lost some of the last remaining innocence we perhaps had at that time. Last July when terrorism arrived in London we were shocked and saddened but nothing that happens again will ever have quite the global impact of that day.

For those who lost loved ones, and for those who were there, life was never the same again. The direct fall out on others is much greater than I had realised though. Yesterday I read about young workers who spent 3 years or so of their life clearing up, dismantling the buildings and now are doomed to die and die quite soon of chronic lung disease caused by the dust present in the buildings. Ultimately then the fall out from 9/11 will be felt for a very long time and not just in terms of the families of those who died that day or those who continue to die in war zones, but closer to home.

Those of you who read my blog regularly will have noticed that once, 5 years ago I really did work as a proper nurse. I am wondering about that whole thing, should I go back. My next post is going to be about my career and what I should do next.