Historical Notes Port Authority Police Department Lieutenant David Lim, who survived the North Tower collapse, carried this pepper spray in his utility belt on 9/11.
Curator's Comment Port Authority Police Department Lieutenant David Lim and his trained bomb-sniffing canine partner, Sirius, were in the basement of the South Tower when hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower. Certain that people would need assistance, Lim decided he would be most effective responding on his own. Securing Sirius in his kennel, Lim promised to return for him.
Lim aided in the evacuation of the North Tower. He had climbed to the 44th floor when he heard a loud rumble, unaware that this sound was the South Tower collapsing. Reversing course, he later joined firefighters assisting a woman in distress and was helping to carry her down from the fifth floor in stairway B when the building collapsed. Sheltered within the stairwell, Lim and the group survived, and his radio still functioned. Rescuers heard their calls for help and extricated them. Emergency personnel transported Lim to St. Vincent’s Hospital, overruling his wish to search for his canine partner. Sirius’s remains, found in 2002, were given a ceremonial escort out of the site. HIDE