THE FIGHT CONTINUES
9/11 survivors deal with long-term illness, face new risks amid pandemic
Firemen work around the World Trade Center after both towers collapsed. Photo by Reuters/Peter Morgan
BY BEN VERDE
Twenty years after 9/11,
health risks are as prevalent
as ever for fi rst responders
and survivors.
For New Yorkers exposed
to the toxic air in lower Manhattan
in the aftermath of the
World Trade Center attacks,
9/11 never ended, says attorney
Michael Barasch, who represents
thousands of victims.
“Not a day goes by without
one of my clients dying,” he
said.
In the months after, while
fi rst responders worked at
Ground Zero, aware of the
risks it carried, thousands
of offi ce workers returned to
lower Manhattan, assured by
the government that the air
was safe to breathe — a fatal
mistake, according to Barasch.
“The air is safe to breathe
— that was a lie,” he told
Brooklyn Paper. “The government
wanted to reopen Wall
Street, they wanted people to
come back to their homes to
their schools to their places of
work, to show our enemy how
resilient we are. As a result, a
huge price was paid.”
Now, that price has folded
out in the form of over 400,000
non fi rst-responders who have
been diagnosed with a respiratory
COURIER LIFE, S A6 EPTEMBER 10-16, 2021
illness traceable to being
in lower Manhattan after
the attacks.
Many victims have found
themselves growing ill over
a decade after the attack, like
fi refi ghter William Gormley
of Engine 310/Ladder 174 in
East Flatbush. Gormley spent
months working at Ground
Zero after the collapse and arrived
home safely, only to develop
bladder cancer in 2016
and die in 2017 at the age of 53.
His untimely death inspired
his daughter Bridget
Gormley to dedicate herself
to raising awareness about
the prevalence of post-9/11 illnesses
among fi rst responders
and survivors, which she says
even she was blind to before
her father’s death.
“I was a bit ignorant of the
post-9/11 health crises,” she
said. “This ignorance really
threw me for a loop.”
The Marine Park native recently
produced a documentary
on the health crisis titled
“Dust: The Lingering Legacy
of 9/11” and works to spread
awareness about post-9/11 illnesses
— and the free healthcare
that survivors are entitled
to through the 9/11 Victim
Compensation Fund, which is
chronically under-promoted
to survivors.
‘Our own government lies
to people’
While the coronavirus
pandemic poses a health risk
to all Americans, particularly
the immunocompromised,
9/11 survivors have faced particular
peril. With COVID-19
attacking the respiratory system,
those with preexisting respiratory
conditions are especially
vulnerable.
But with a life-saving vaccine
widely available, many
survivors have opted not to
take it, borne out of a distrust
in the government that authorized
it — the same government
that told them it was safe
to be in lower Manhattan.
That mistrust pared with
the government’s downplaying
of the virus in 2019 — with
then-President Donald Trump
insisting it was an unserious
fl u that would one day disappear
despite knowing this to
be untrue — has made many
reluctant to take the vaccine,
according to Barasch.
“That’s twice in the past
twenty years that our government
has lied to us,” Barasch
said. “So now when the government
comes out and says
the vaccination is safe — no
wonder so many people don’t
trust the government.”
By the numbers
While 2,751 people died in
the attacks of 9/11, that tragic
number will soon be eclipsed
by the number of individuals
who have since perished from
disease linked to their presence
at Ground Zero.
According to the non-profi t
Cancer Center, over 2,000 individuals
have already succumb
to illnesses attributable to
9/11-related sicknesses.
In a study of fi rst responders
that were at Ground Zero,
the center found that they were
getting cancer at a stunning 9
percent higher rate when compared
with the general public
— representing just one type
of sickness related to the toxins
at the rubble site.
In chastising members of
Congress in June 2019, one
fi rst responder who had developed
cancer — retired NYPD
Detective Luis Alvarez —
blasted the legislators for underfunding
the compensation
fund while visibly ailing.
“You made me come down
here the day before my 69th
round of chemo, and I’m going
to make sure that you never
forget to take care of the 9/11
fi rst responders,” he said.
Alvarez died a week later.
9/11: 20 YEARS LATER