Jeff Bernthal of KPLR St. Louis reports that a seedling from a tree known as the 9/11 Survivor Tree was planted outside Mercy Hospital in Joplin on Sunday in commemoration of the 161 people killed in the tornado of May 22, 2011.
Each year, different cities are awarded a seedling from the beautiful Callery pear tree that was horribly damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Two days after the original hospital was destroyed in the storm, its leaders vowed to rebuild the hospital and to keep all hospital employees on salary. The new hospital opened in 2015.
