There were around 100 babies born without their dads after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. And in an upcoming TV special, PEOPLE magazine revisit those children, who are now in their mid-teens.
Children of 9/11, 15 Years Later will feature kids such as Lauren McIntyre (pictured above), whose dad died after running into the South Tower to save others, as they talk about how their lives have been affected by the tragic events that took place before they were even born.
14-year-old Jamie Pila was born six months after her dad died, and “is the special gift he left for us,” according to her mum Jill.
“My mum says I’m brave like [my dad],” Jamie said. “When I do well on something or have a big moment, I wish he was here with me.”
Robyn Higley, whose father Robert died in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, is one of the six teens profiled by PEOPLE. She admits that she’s always known “things were different and that I was different.”
“I never grieved…I just knew he was gone,” she added.
Her father, who was an Aon Insurance executive, was working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower when Uniter Airlines flight 175 flew into the building.
Robert had been working with 12 new employees that morning, and ensured all of them got into the elevator safely, staying behind to make sure people were evacuating.
Tragically, Robert never made it out.
Robyn’s older sister Amanda, who was 4 and a half when the attacks happened, said she “threw a fit” when her father’s car didn’t return home.
And despite the fact Robyn never got to know her parent, she says he is “a hero.”
“I know there are people who are making the world an unsafe place to live, but even if we’re different, I believe that underneath we’re all the same.”
