Royal Palm Beach Chiropractor Volunteers Time at Ground Zero

Town Crier
Jan 10-16th, Vol 23, Number 2

by Carol Porter
Town-Crier Staff Reporter

While many were resting and trying to forget 2001, Royal Palm Beach chiropractor Dr. Scott Snyder spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s working at Ground Zero in New York City.

Snyder worked three days for 10-hour shifts volunteering his chiropractic services to those in need— mostly police, fire and sanitation officers working months of long hours at the site.
“Many of these officers are serving 12-hour shifts, working on pure adrenaline,” Snyder said. “Certainly the stress has been tremendous.”

The unique honor came to Snyder via an e-mail from the New York Chiropractic Society, which sent a request to chiropractic societies throughout the eastern seaboard asking for volunteers to help at Ground Zero. When Snyder was contacted by a local association director, the Royal Palm Beach doctor was eager to help out in any way he could.

“It took a few days for them to get back to me,” said Snyder. “I had to fax up a resume and a copy of my license and other information about me. I was very happy when they got back to me and said that they wanted me. So I made the necessary arrangements with family and friends in the New York area.”

Originally supposed to travel to the New York area for a cancelled chiropractic conference that had been scheduled for Sept. 12, Snyder took his ticket voucher and put it to good use.
Before the tragedy, Snyder’s brother was often in the Twin Towers on business. He was in the building just a week prior to Sept. 11.

“I am very familiar with the area,” Dr. Snyder said. “I have been there many times. I used to have lunch on the 66th floor in the sky lobby. It was one of my favorite places in the city.”
Flying into New York City without the World Trade Center visible was quite a shock, Snyder said. “It’s very unsettling,” he explained. “You lose your point of reference. You see the Empire State Building, but downtown is totally different.”

Once Snyder arrived in New York City, he went to work at St. Paul’s Chapel, a church near Ground Zero designated as the Volunteer Center by the American Red Cross. It is staffed 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Downstairs was set up with medical supplies and anything else that the Ground Zero volunteers might need— food, medical attention, and bedding. Chiropractors, therapists, and medical doctors were among the volunteers.

“I had a name badge with my name (Dr. Scott Snyder, West Palm Beach), and they sought out my services,” said Snyder. “When they found out I was from Florida, they were glad. I’m from New York originally, but I live in Florida now. They were very appreciative. I think they would do the same for us. Sometimes it takes something terrible to bring out the goodness in people.”

While working at St. Paul’s, Snyder had a great deal of company. Volunteers came from all over the New York area and the nation. There was even one gentleman who had lost his restaurant, but was now working at the site as the food manager.

When Snyder took breaks from working, he would walk around the church and sit in the pews. The whole church had been decorated with letters, cards, and banners from children.

Snyder shared one example: “Dear New York police or firefighter, you are so brave to do what you’re doing. Thank you so much. My father’s cousin Bill works for you. Maybe you know him. Love Crystal.”

“The depth of emotions that are associated with this tragedy has been enormous,” Snyder said.

Snyder received a close-up tour of Ground Zero and was able to take some photos. Looking around, he said, you can see clearly the effects the planes crashing into the World Trade Center had on other buildings around them. Every window facing the area is shattered, and the American Express Building just west of the site has a six-floor hole in it. Building 7, a smaller building on the north side, has been reduced to a parking lot. From the south and west, Ground Zero resembles catacombs at different levels. “To rebuild anything, they will have to go down to the bedrock foundation, just like they did in 1967,” he said.

Ground Zero, said Snyder, looks more like an archaeological dig than a modern disaster site. Yet it remains hallowed ground— a very solemn place, burial ground for thousands of people. “When they find the remains of a person, it’s a very emotional thing,” he said. “they’ll pull out the remains, put them in a body bag, and put them in a coffin-like box, which they will drape with an American flag. The body then gets sent to the morgue for identification.”

Snyder is not a stranger to volunteering. He is well-known locally for his work with the Royal Palm Beach Jaycees, the Royal Palm Beach Rotary Club, and the American Cancer Society. In 2000, he was honored by the Palms West Chamber of Commerce as “Small Business of the Year.”

While the work at Ground Zero dominated his time in New York, Snyder did manage a little time away from the immediate area. He got to visit his favorite stops in Chinatown and visited different neighborhoods in the city. The trip was quite a memorable experience— one he will never forget, but not one he hopes to do again.

“I hope I never have to see anything like this again,” said Snyder. “I hope we never se a disaster like this again.”