Love, Greg & Lauren is a deeply personal account of survival, devotion, and resilience in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. On that morning, Lauren Manning, a senior vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald and mother of a ten-month-old son, entered One World Trade Center just as a fireball exploded from the elevator shaft, leaving her with catastrophic burns over most of her body.
While Lauren lay in a drug-induced coma in the Burn Center at New York–Presbyterian Hospital, her husband Greg began writing daily emails to family, friends, and colleagues. These messages, collected here, form a powerful diary of Lauren’s struggle to live and heal, and of Greg’s efforts to find meaning and strength in the face of overwhelming trauma.
Through Greg’s eyes, readers witness intricate surgeries, grueling therapies, and the constant dangers of infection. He introduces the doctors, nurses, and therapists who care for Lauren with tireless dedication, as well as the other families keeping vigil for loved ones whose outcomes are uncertain.
At the same time, Greg chronicles life outside the hospital: their toddler’s first steps, his first birthday, and the outpouring of compassionate messages from around the world. Slowly, Lauren begins to respond, first with her eyes, then with smiles, until the day she walks out of the Burn Center.
- Firsthand 9/11 survivor narrative
- Epistolary memoir told through real-time emails
- Themes of courage, family, and medical heroism
- For readers of true stories of resilience and recovery
