During the September 11th terrorist attacks, Daniel Suhr became the first firefighter to perish when a woman jumped from the South Tower and landed directly on his head.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.
Top Hat ProductionsDaniel Suhr shortly before his tragic death on September 11, 2001.
On September 11, 2001, FDNY firefighter Daniel Suhr got up for work as usual. He said goodbye to his wife, and wished his two-year-old daughter good luck at her first day of school. Tragically, it would be the last time his family would ever see him alive.
That morning, two hijacked planes struck the Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan, sparking a city-wide emergency response effort to rescue the people inside. Suhr and the rest of his firehouse headed to the World Trade Center to help pull people from the buildings. But as Suhr approached the South Tower, a woman jumping from the building crash-landed on Suhr, killing him.
The fatal accident marked the first death of a firefighter on 9/11. And it would leave a devastating void in the lives of the people who knew and loved Daniel Suhr.
Daniel Suhr: New York’s Own “Captain America”
Top Hat ProductionsDaniel Suhr after a football game.
Daniel Thomas Suhr was born on August 21, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York. In his youth, Suhr boasted an impressive athletic career, serving as the captain of both the James Madison High School baseball and football teams. He had played football since he was six years old, cultivating a love for the sport that would last his lifetime.
When he was in grammar school, Suhr met his future wife, Nancy. The two eventually got married and had a daughter, Briana.
Daniel Suhr was both the son and brother of a firefighter, so it was no surprise that Suhr decided to pursue the same career. Suhr worked for the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY)‚ Engine Company 216. He was nicknamed “Captain America” because he was always trying to keep everyone safe.
“Danny loved being a firefighter,” Nancy told CBC in 2021. “He would say if we won the lottery, if I wanted to quit my job, fine, but he was never quitting the fire department. He just loved every minute of it.
“There’s a little bit of crazy in all of them and there was a little part of him that liked the fire,” Nancy continued. “He would be on vacation and I would hear him call the firehouse and be like, ‘Did I miss anything? I miss a good job?'”
When he wasn’t saving lives or caring for his family, Suhr coached local high school football. In 2001, the South Shore High School football team in Brooklyn dedicated its season to him.
Nancy SuhrDaniel Suhr and his wife, Nancy, on their wedding day.
How Daniel Suhr Became The First Firefighter To Die On 9/11
When Daniel Suhr woke up on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he had no idea what the day would bring. He got up early to head to work. It also happened to be his daughter’s first day at school, and he complimented her new haircut before leaving. It would be the last time he ever saw her.
At approximately 8:46 a.m., a hijacked plane struck the North Tower at the World Trade Center in what would become the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Just over 15 minutes later, a second plane struck the South Tower. In the panic of the moment, no one could have predicted that the towers would collapse, and the FDNY began sending firefighters into the buildings to rescue people.
Suhr and the rest of his firehouse headed to the World Trade Center to help pull people from the towers. He was preparing to enter the South Tower when, at roughly 9:30 a.m., a woman jumped from the building and landed on him. This jumper was one of many, including the famous “Falling Man,” who chose to jump to their deaths rather than burn alive in the Twin Towers.
“Apparently… somebody had fallen from the building [and] landed on him as he and his group were going into the South Tower,” Nancy later told CBC. “It cracked his forehead in half, broke his nose, broke his eye socket, broke his neck.”
Meanwhile, Nancy was at home, watching as the 9/11 attacks unfolded on her television and unaware that her husband was dying.
Public DomainFirefighters tend to Daniel Suhr following the accident.
“I was watching everything unfold on TV and I just got this wave of panic and sheer terror,” Nancy Suhr told CBC. “And then the phone clicked and it was Brian from the firehouse.”
Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11. Of these, 343 were firefighters and paramedics who put themselves in harm’s way to help save others.
And the first of these was Daniel Suhr.
Suhr’s Enduring Legacy As An American Hero
Fire Department, City of New YorkDaniel Suhr was a loving father and husband who was devoted to his job as a firefighter.
In the days following the September 11 attacks, the media reported extensively on Daniel Suhr and the ultimate sacrifice he had made.
When asked whether she felt any anger toward the jumper who landed on her husband, Nancy Suhr replied: “From what I understand, the person who ended up hitting [him] was a woman. People have asked me, ‘Aren’t you angry?’ I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? What [were] her last thoughts?'”
She also noted that Daniel likely would have died anyway, had he made it inside the South Tower that fateful morning, as the building collapsed at 9:59 a.m. What’s more, his death likely saved the lives of many of his fellow firefighters, who stopped what they were doing to try to help Suhr.
“When he was down, his co-workers, other firefighters from his house and other houses, helped try to resuscitate him,” Jean Suhr Ryan, Suhr’s sister, told News 4 Jacksonville in 2021. “When they closed the ambulance doors, the tower came down. The men from his firehouse would have been in there if he didn’t die first.”
When the fire department brought Nancy Suhr to say her last goodbyes to her husband, she promised him that no one would ever forget him, that he’d be in her life forever. And she has kept her promise.
Over the years, Nancy Suhr and her daughter have made media appearances to discuss Daniel Suhr’s legacy and to keep his memory alive. And in 2021, Paul Conlon, Suhr’s fire captain who was with him on 9/11, published the book Daniel Suhr: A Story of September 11th.
“Daniel was everybody’s favorite friend, brother,” Jean Suhr Ryan said. “Everybody loved Daniel. He was the light of the story. A good man, with a big heart and a big personality.”
After learning about Daniel Suhr, read the story of Rick Rescorla, the man who saved 2,700 lives on 9/11. Then, read about Scott Davidson, Pete Davidson’s firefighter father who died on 9/11.
