Louise Rayner, now 52, reflects on her experience of tragedy after being part of the Lawrence family in Summit, New Jersey on 9/11. Louise was a nanny for Bob and Suzanne Lawrence's two children when Bob, 41, was killed in the World Trade Center attacks. She stayed with the family for two and a half years to help them cope with their loss. The anniversary of the attacks has given Louise a chance to look back on how 9/11 changed her life, including giving her a "second home" in the US.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
"It was a series of sliding doors moments that led us to each other and from something so tragic, came an enduring, special friendship."
On 11 September 2001, Louise Rayner was living with the Lawrence family in Summit, New Jersey.
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Rayner → publish → Summit
Then in her mid-20s, she was working as a nanny for Bob and Suzanne Lawrence's two children.
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she → work → children
Louise was a photography student from Bradford, but ended up forming a lifelong bond with the Lawrences after Bob, 41, was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, just one day after starting a new job on the 104th floor of the South Tower.
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Bob → end → Tower
She ended up staying with the Lawrences for a further two and a half years to help in the aftermath of the atrocity and they remain close today.
On the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Louise, 52, told the BBC how 9/11 changed the "whole direction of my life" and gave her a second home in the US.
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9/11 → end → US
She met the Lawrence family by chance - she changed her original flight to the US by two weeks and on the plane met another au pair who introduced her to Bob, Suzanne and their children Bobby and Toland.
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who → meet → Bob
The couple sponsored Louise to study while working as their nanny.
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couple → sponsor → nanny
"Toland was about eight and Bobby was six - I got on really well with them and they were really cute and lovely.
"
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they → get → them
A lot of Bob's family lived in Summit, so there was loads of cousins and it never felt like a job."
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it → live → job
On the day of the attacks, Suzanne was working away and Bob had left early that morning to get a lift into New York, where he worked for an investment bank in the South Tower.
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he → work → Tower
"I had taken the kids to school and hadn't seen Bob as he left so early and I went back to bed - and I remember the landline went and started ringing and ringing.
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landline → take → bed
"It was a nanny friend who lived two towns over and she said, 'are you watching the news?'," Louse recalled.
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Louse → live → news
"It had been such a beautiful, perfect morning with clear skies and what unfolded was so surreal.
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unfolded → unfold → skies
We were watching it together live and I was talking to her as the second plane hit.
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plane → watch → her
And then my mobile started to ring."
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mobile → start → ?
Louise said that some of Bob's family did not even know he had taken a new job at the World Trade Center and Suzanne, who was in another state, could not fly home as aircraft were grounded, so it was her who had to pick the children up from school.
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who → say → school
For weeks, Louise said there was lots of "clinging to hope" about missing people being found but it was understood that anyone on or above the 77th floor of the South Tower had died.
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anyone → say → Tower
The plane struck the building between the 78th and 84th floors.
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plane → strike → floors
"And of course, no one expected the towers to fall; the skyline, it was like a child losing its tooth - it was just so stark to see it.
"
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it → expect → it
Everyone was presumed dead.
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"I tried to just be a stable presence for the children - but I don't think it was officially confirmed for a long time that Bob had died," she added.
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she → try → time
What followed for Louise was a feeling of "tiptoeing through someone else's grief" as the family navigated the loss of Bob, who she described as "bigger than life" and an "incredible family man".
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she → follow → life
He was a keen athlete who loved tennis and hockey.
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who → love → tennis
"But I wasn't going anywhere.
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I → go → ?
I didn't even need to say it - Suzanne and the family needed me," Louise added.
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Louise → need → me
Suzanne, who worked in finance, had to return to work shortly after so for two and a half years Louise helped with the cooking, cleaning and homework and kept Bob's family informed about the children.
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Louise → work → children
"I just knew that they were grateful for that", she said.
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she → know → that
Louise left New Jersey in 2003 due to her visa expiring and even though there are more than 3,000 miles between her home in the village of Baildon and New York, her friendship with the Lawrences was cemented.
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friendship → leave → Lawrences
Suzanne, who is "so strong but not overly sentimental", sent her an engraved miniature picture frame out of the blue years later simply thanking Louise for being there when she was needed.
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she → send → Louise
"She says to me 'you were meant to be there, it wasn't just anybody...it was you that was meant to be there you were sent to help'.
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you → say → me
"She is right - if I had gone on that original flight I would never have met the girl who introduced me, so there's all these ripples, all these like sliding doors moments that led us to that and I so feel so close to them even now," Louise added.
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Louise → go → them
Suzanne, Bob and Toland have been to Bradford and Toland was even Louise's bridesmaid when she married.
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she → marry → Bradford
Toland said the "love and care" Louise showed her family changed the course of her life for the better.
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Louise → say → better
Louise's own three children, aged 19, 17 and 14, also met the Lawrences in New York, which was "two worlds coming together".
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worlds → meet → York
Louise said that experiencing something so catastrophic almost first hand has altered the way she sees the world.
"9/11 absolutely changed the course of my life, it gave me these friendships with the family with two close friends who were there with me when it happened, we share it.
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we → experience → it
"So much kindness came out of it, such a sharp contrast to what happened.
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what → come → it
I've got this family in New Jersey that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for 9/11."
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it → get → 9/11
Toland added: "Her kindness and patience during those years is a resource I carry with me always and I'm so glad she is a part of my life."
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she → add → life
