On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Kayla Smith recalls her father’s last words—“I’m getting out. I’m coming home”—just before he died in the World Trade Center attacks. The IT manager at Cantor Fitzgerald was 38 when he perished, and his daughter now leads a nonprofit that offers free mental health and equine therapy to first responders.
Father’s Final Call
William Lawrence Fallon Jr. worked early mornings at his IT job, often calling his daughters before school to wish them a good day. On September 11, he called again after the first tower was struck, only to have his wife answer, and he said, “I’m getting out. I’m coming home,” before hanging up.
From Loss to Purpose
Kayla Smith, now 33, turned her childhood trauma into a mission, founding Trails of Purpose in 2019 to provide free counseling and equine‑assisted therapy to military, veterans, first responders and their families. She says the program, which has delivered 30,000 hours of services, fills a gap she never experienced as a child.
Healing Through Horses
Smith credits equine therapy for giving her a safe space when words failed, a method she discovered during her graduate studies. “The horses can be with you when words don’t come,” she said, noting the organization now pairs trauma survivors with horses for connection beyond language.
Lasting Impact
The family never heard from him again after his final call, a silence that haunts Smith each year. She rejects the notion that time heals all wounds, noting grief evolves but never disappears.
