Will Jimeno

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Will Jimeno of the New York PAPD

Will Jimeno (born November 26, 1967) is a Port Authority Police officer of Colombian origin who survived the World Trade Center attack on September 11th. He was buried under the rubble for nearly 12 hours, but survived miraculously, along with fellow Port Authority officer John McLoughlin.

His entombment and rescue are portrayed in the 2006 Oliver Stone film World Trade Center.

Jimeno, a rookie cop assigned to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, saw the shadow of the airplane that seconds later hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He rode to the WTC site with 20 other Port Authority police officers in a commandeered bus.[1]

Jimeno and other Port Authority officers, led by McLoughlin, were trapped under the Concourse between the twin towers by the collapse of the South Tower. Only Jimeno and McLoughlin survived, with another officer surviving the initial collapse, but died when the North Tower collapsed.

A USA Today account observed:

Sometimes they yelled for help. But mostly the 46-year-old sergeant, a 21-year veteran, and the 32-year-old rookie talked intimately, sometimes revealing personal things — about kids, families, feelings — that they had never shared with anyone. Jimeno asked the sergeant to deliver a message over the radio to his wife, Allison, who was seven months pregnant. They had received no response earlier, but he thought maybe their radio call would be picked up on a police tape recording. "Attention," McLoughlin announced. "Officer Jimeno requests that his baby girl be named Olivia." His wife had liked the name. He hadn't been so sure. Now, as he prepared to die, he wanted to think of his baby girl, Olivia. One of Will Jimeno's best friends Frank Pazos and his daughter, Alyssa were there to support him through his recovery.[2]

The two men were subsequently located and extricated. Both were severely injured and required months of hospitalization.

The World Trade Center movie received widespread critical praise, but has come under criticism for not accurately portraying the rescue of McLoughlin and Jimeno. The film was criticized for incorrectly identifying the personnel who dug out the two men, omitting key participants in the rescue, and understating the amount of time and effort required, and danger and difficulty involved, in extricating the two men. [3]