Birthday ‘unique’ for Cleveland woman born as first plane struck World Trade Center tower

Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Autumn Cordell poses for a portrait with her parents, Jeffery and Mitzi Frederick Cordell on Monday, Sept. 6, 2021, in McDonald, Tenn. Autumn Cordell was born Sept. 11, 2001, as the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City. On the same day almost 3,000 Americans were claimed in the attacks, the Cordells celebrated the arrival of a new life, their daughter.

By Ben Benton September 11, 2021 5 min read

While almost 3,000 lives were lost to unprecedented violence on Sept. 11, 2001, plenty of first breaths were taken that day, people who never lived in a pre-9/11 world.

Among them was a Cleveland woman who’ll celebrate her 20th birthday on Saturday.

Tennessee Department of Health records show 306 babies were born on Sept. 11, 2001, and of those, 17 were born that day in Hamilton County.

One of the 144 girls born in Tennessee on 9/11 was Autumn Cordell.

“My mother told me she was watching it on the news while she was giving birth to me,” Autumn Cordell said.