Sandeep Jauhar

In the first hours of the attack, nearby hospitals were warned to be ready for thousands of wounded. Doctors, nurses, and emergency medical personnel rushed to the area to provide assistance. People flocked to hospitals to give blood. It soon became clear, however, that there would be very few injured who needed help. Rescuers searched in the rubble for days, hoping that they would find survivors buried in the wreckage. As the hours and days passed, hope dwindled and medical workers were pressed into other jobs.

Sandeep Jauhar, a new doctor, presented himself at Ground Zero the day after the attack hoping to be of some help. He was told to report to the makeshift morgue where doctors were needed to supervise the collection and cataloging of bodies and body parts. It was a job that he never dreamed he would be...