Kenneth Summers had high hopes when the NYPD called him on May 19, 2003. You see, Kenneth is a survivor of the World Trade Center attacks. And after all this time, he thought that — just maybe — his Garmin GPS III Plus might have turned up a survivor, too.

Kenneth’s story began with a May 2003 letter to Garmin:

My name is Kenneth Summers and I was one of the 20 most seriously injured survivors of the attack on 9/11/01 at the World Trade Center. I received burns over 30 percent of my body, but I am bouncing back. I am a GPS "nut" if there is such a thing. I love navigation, both on land and water. I now have a GPSMAP 176C unit and am planning on buying a 188C Sounder for my new boat, which is still being built. But here is the story:

On 9/11/01 I had with me (as I always have) my GPS III Plus unit to which I had downloaded many of the local streets on Long Island and New York from a MapSource Roads & Recreation CD-ROM. I had the unit in my bag with all my other electrical gadgets (I’m a gadget nut too).

Well you know what happened next. In the attack, I was engulfed by a fireball in the lobby of WTC1, about three seconds after the first aircraft struck the north tower, and was blown out of the building. My bag containing my GPS was on the 27th floor. My insurance replaced it, and the GPSMAP 176C was the FIRST thing I bought with that check. I use my GPS in my car all the time when it is not on the boat.

Today, Monday, May 19, I received a call from One Police Plaza in New York City telling me that they had found some of my possessions and that I needed to come down and claim them.

They will not tell me what they are, but someone had mentioned a black bag. My hopes are high, but my expectations are low. Can you imagine if my unit was a survivor just like me? Tomorrow, I’ll find out and I will let you know if you are interested.

As it happened, the recovered items turned out to be the ID cards that had been around Kenneth’s neck when the blast from the first plane’s impact blew him out of One World Trade Center’s lobby and into the street.

Thanks to help from a few key strangers on that fateful day, Kenneth turned up a survivor too. His story has been covered by numerous newspapers and Newsday has dubbed him the "luckiest unlucky guy around." He has had a long road to recovery, but it is clear he is a person of strong will, determination and focus.

Kenneth said he still has hope that his original Garmin unit may turn up some day.

"I have not given up hope because the man in front of me at the NYPD headquarters had received back an intact, but battered, briefcase," said Kenneth. "I left a description of my unit with the headquarters in hope that this will help them identify the unit, which did not have my name on it."

Throughout the entire experience, Kenneth’s strength and resolve have remained strong, as especially evidenced by a passage in a moving speech he gave on September 11, 2002 at Bay Shore Middle School in Bay Shore, N.Y.:

I would be a liar if I said that I was not bitter towards the people who did this, but I also accept that this is the only life I will get and that I received a second chance, where many people did not. I am thankful to be alive by God’s graces and I realize that harboring hatred serves no purpose in my recovery. I want my life back and I intend to get it.

Digging Deeper Read more about Kenneth's use of GPS days before September 11

View more Adventures in GPS stories.

Submit Your Own Story!