Kayla Smith Builds 30,000-Hour Equine Therapy Program 25 Years After 9/11 Loss
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 11
Kayla Smith Builds 30,000-Hour Equine Therapy Program 25 Years After 9/11 Loss
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 11
Summary
Kayla Smith, 33, said the last words her father spoke before dying at Cantor Fitzgerald on Sept. 11, 2001 — “I’m getting out. I’m coming home” — still shape her grief 25 years later.
That loss drove Smith, who was 8 when William Lawrence Fallon Jr. was killed at 38, to become a licensed mental health counselor and create Trails of Purpose, a nonprofit offering free counseling and equine-assisted therapy.
Founded in 2019, the program has delivered 30,000 hours of support to military members, veterans, first responders and their families.
Smith said horses can help when words fail, and she built the organization around the community, safety and quiet she felt she needed as a child coping with trauma.
By sharing her father’s story, Smith said she hopes to preserve the sense of unity many Americans felt on Sept. 12 for a new generation.