Sunday, October 14, 2001
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Sunday, October 14, 2001 |
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With help from her friends, local woman copes with loss of brother
By JOHN MUNFORD
Although her brother died in the collapse of the World Trade Center weeks ago, Mary Lynch of Peachtree City takes comfort in knowing he was there doing what he loved to do. She is also comforted by the help of friends and neighbors here who baby sat her two daughters, fixed meals and raised money so she could fly home quickly. Michael Boyle, 37, had just gotten off a 24-hour shift as a firefighter in New York City when a fire call came in for one of the skyscrapers Sept. 11. He was on the phone with his girlfriend of more than three years at the time, and he told her, "I'm going to jump on the truck." Boyle sped away with his fellow firemen and made it up to the 31st floor before an FBI officer told the firemen to evacuate the building, Lynch said. Boyle was believed to have been between the lobby and 10th floors when the building collapsed, according to a report filed by a lieutenant who managed to escape the collapse alive, Lynch said. All seven members of Boyle's company died, she added. "It's sad that he had to go, but that's the way he wanted to go," Lynch said Friday morning. "That was what he loved, being a fireman." Lynch's father, who was a New York firefighter for years himself, went to the scene after witnessing the first tower collapse and tried to find his son. Later, the family found Boyle's wallet and keys still in his locker as if he had never left the station house. Since that fateful day, Lynch has made two separate trips to New York once with her two daughters, Amanda and Diana, and once with her husband, Brendan. She visited the remains of the building along with family members of other missing firefighters who responded to the scene. "It looks like another country," Lynch said, explaining that the rubble appeared as if it was from a war zone. "I wanted to do it. I felt the need to get some closure, or something." Lynch last saw her brother about a week before the tragedy. Boyle had a layover at Hartsfield International Airport on his way to Florida for a vacation. They had breakfast together before he flew out. Boyle also had another layover on his return trip, but he didn't tell his sister until he got on the plane, reasoning that it was too late at night to meet and it was her husband's birthday. "I was so mad at him for that," Lynch said, admitting that her brother was just being thoughtful. While Lynch is still coping with the loss of her brother, she said she is strengthened by her friends here, who came to her aid in a variety of ways. The Peachtree City Running Club raised money to help her fly back home and be with family. A coworker at Shadows Restaurant, Patty Schweer, helped organize dinners, arrange for baby-sitters and stopped by often. "That was really nice because we don't have family down here," Lynch said. "People here have been very supportive. I don't know how I could have gotten through it without them. Everybody has been so great."
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