NYPD hero Officer Ramon Suarez died rescuing New Yorkers from the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001 - and now his daughter is looking to follow his footsteps as a police officer 20 years later.

Photos taken on the fateful day show Suarez in the act of rescuing people from the Twin Towers.

His wife Carmen says she didn’t know he was there that day. She saw the second plane hit the building, and tried to call his number but couldn’t get ahold of him.

She says that the wife of her husband’s partner then reached out to say no one had been able to find Suarez. Their daughter Jillian, had just turned 9 years old.

As the days went on, Carmen continued to call her husband’s precinct daily.

“People said I was in denial – maybe I was,” said Carmen. “But I knew who he was and I knew that if he could find a way to get home, he would have.”

Suarez’s body was found on Dec. 19, 2001. He was buried three days before Christmas.

His legacy is far from over – his daughter Jillian is now an officer at the 9th precinct, graduating the academy in 2018.

“It was difficult. Obviously I wanted my dad there” said Jillian. “I had a huge entourage at my graduation, but the one person I wanted there wasn’t there.”

Carmen also joined in on honoring Suarez, and hopes to launch a foundation that would give scholarships to two of the students at Police Officer Ramon Suarez School, also known as P.S. 239, in Queens.