As Joplin observes the five-year anniversary of the tornado this weekend, a tree will be planted outside Mercy Hospital Joplin.
The hospital replaces St. John’s, which was destroyed in the storm.
But it’s not just any tree that will be planted—it’s one grown from seeds of a special tree.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a Callery pear tree clung to life on that site. It was removed from the rubble with snapped roots and broken branches and sent for rehabilitation. After its remarkable recovery, it was eventually replanted at the 9/11 Memorial.
The 9/11 Memorial Committee announced last fall that Mercy Joplin would receive one of three saplings grown from seeds of that Survivor Tree along with Newtown, Connecticut and Madrid, Spain.
A planting ceremony will be held Sunday at noon—the anniversary of the storm—at the hospital’s Cancer Center entrance, 100 Mercy Way. Mercy says the event will celebrate the rebuilding of Joplin and the community’s resilience.