DETROIT (WXYZ) — Back in the 1980's, you’d find Stephen Singleton here at Channel 7 Action News working the assignment desk. But 21 years ago, after he’d left news, what he saw on his television at home changed his life forever.
“By the time I got the TV on downstairs, I realized that another plane was hitting the other tower,” said Stephen Singleton.
Like so many Americans, Stephen Singleton was just starting his day on September 11, 2001 when the world was forever changed.
As a pastoral minister for the Archdiocese of Detroit - he went to pray, seeking guidance. And, during the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, he found it.
“My spirit was lifted and I knew that I had to go,” Singleton said of his motivation to make the drive to New York City from Detroit more than 20 years ago.
So, he drove all the way from Detroit to Ground Zero, ready to serve.
Using his medical skills as a former physician's assistant, Singleton first helped triage victims of the attack. Then, he helped firefighters with search and rescue efforts. That’s when a fire chief gave him these instructions.
“He said, "what I need you to do is write your social security number on your arm." I said, "why is that?" He said, "Well if something happens to you we’ll know who you are." I said, "no, I’m going to write Detroit on my hat, and that should be enough,"” Singleton recalled.
So that's what he did he said — with a red Sharpie a white hard cat.
It’s a hat Stephen will always keep. It's one of his few tangible memories of the lives both lost and saved that day.
“It meant that my mom was going to be happy, my children were going to be happy, people were going to be happy that I left and did God’s work. So, if something happened to me, I know that I was in God’s hands,” Singleton said of his mission to serve.
Searching in the rubble for survivors took its toll on Stephen. He burned his hand on hot metal trying to recover a victim. But, it also took a toll mentally.
“I started tearing up because I couldn’t find survivors. We would find people that were perished. But we couldn’t find survivors,” Singleton said of his tireless search for victims on 9-11.
Later, Singleton volunteered with the Family Assistance Center in New York; a place where law enforcement convened, along with families who were searching for their loved ones.
One of the survivors he met while volunteering for the Family Assistance Center was a man named George. He had lost dozens of friends and co-workers that day, Singleton said, and had gone to the Family Assistance Center looking for information about them.
“This is George,” Singleton said while pointing to a photo of his now lifelong friend.
They’re still friends. And, on the very first anniversary of the attacks, they stood side-by-side.
It’s been more than two decades since that day, but for Singleton and so many who witnessed the attacks with their own eyes, it’s a day they'll never forget.
“9/11 will never leave me,” Singleton said.
