Responders to Twin Towers still paying the price

2/3 of FDNY firefighters, EMTs who worked at WTC site have long-term illness: Report

ABC 7 News
By Eyewitness News
September 7, 2021

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Twenty years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, more than two-thirds of New York City firefighters and EMTs who responded to the World Trade Center that day or worked on the pile of toxic wreckage have some kind of long-term illness, according to the latest snapshot of FDNY health released Wednesday.

Nearly 16,000 FDNY members were exposed to dust, particulates, noxious gases, chemicals, and fibers while working for more than 10 months in the rescue and recovery effort.

More than 11,300 of them have been diagnosed and certified with at least one WTC-covered condition for physical or mental health, from asthma and reflux to PTSD and cancer, the report from the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program said.

"This intense environmental exposure is directly related to many of the symptoms and illnesses," the report said.
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'Eyewitness to 9/11: Behind the Lens' reveals untold stories, rare video of America's darkest day

On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we hear from the Eyewitness News journalists who were there, in the streets, in the air, and in the newsroom, reporting on the events as the tragedy unfolded, capturing the unforgettable video of that day, and risking their lives to tell the world what was happening.

Landing gear of plane that hit Twin Tower found

NY police: Landing gear part found, is tied to 9/11
By Chelsea J. Carter and Rob Frehse
CNN
updated 6:52 PM EDT, Fri April 26, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Authorities will decide after an inspection whether to sift the soil for remains
The part was discovered behind the site of a planned Islamic community center
Surveyors called police on Wednesday, saying they found "damaged machinery"
Police believe the piece is part of a landing gear from one of the 9/11 airliners

New York (CNN) -- A piece of one of the airliners that hit the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, has been found behind the planned site of an Islamic community center near ground zero, the New York Police Department said Friday.

Part of a landing gear was discovered wedged between 51 Park Place -- the site of the controversial community center -- and another building just blocks from ground zero and "includes a clearly visible Boeing identification number," police said in a written statement.

The part was discovered Wednesday by surveyors hired by a property owner. They called 911 to report that they'd found "apparently damaged machinery," the police said.

Part of a landing gear was discovered wedged between 51 Park Place and another building. "The NYPD is securing the location as it would a crime scene, documenting it photographically ," the statement said.
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Afghanistan veteran serving at Ground Zero because of it

Afghanistan vet finds a new way to serve
By Jeremy Bradley
CNN
January 1, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Ricardo Benejam was born and raised in New York City and saw the twin towers fall
Benejam enlisted in the Army and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2009
He now works at the 9/11 Memorial as a visitor services host
Benejam: It's like you're continuing to serve because you're telling the story

(CNN) -- Ricardo Benejam is a born-and-bred New Yorker. He grew up with a view of the World Trade Center from the window of his childhood apartment in lower Manhattan.

On September 11, 2001, he was a freshman in high school when the twin towers fell.

"I had actually blurted out, 'We'll be going to war,'" he recalls. "You knew it wasn't an accident. That was my first thought at 14 [years old]."

He witnessed the devastation firsthand as he walked home that day.

"I saw cars that were littered with dust," he said. "I saw people in business suits that were littered in dust."

Benejam visits ground zero several times a week now, not just to pay respect to his fellow veterans or to reflect on the events that inspired him to serve his country. He works at the 9/11 Memorial.

"Working down there, it's like you're continuing to serve because you're telling the story of what happened and what was there before," he said.

Part of what makes his job so special is the bond he shares with other veterans visiting the site.

"You meet a veteran, and it's almost like seeing a brother or sister," Benejam said. "A lot of us have deployed (as a result of) what happened on 9/11."
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The Remarkable Untold Story of the 9/11 Surfer

The Remarkable Untold Story of the 9/11 Surfer
By Hillary Ossip
Mon Sep 10, 2012

Tune in to the premiere of The 9/11 Surfer on Tuesday, September 11 at 8 PM E/P.

The 9/11 Surfer documents what could be the last untold survival story from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. This documentary tells the true story of 9/11 survivor Pasquale Buzzelli, who rode a blizzard of falling debris from a 22nd floor stairwell of the World Trade Center’s North Tower and lived to tell the tale.

The firemen who rescued Mr. Buzzelli shared his remarkable story of survival with the media. However, Mr. Buzzelli did not come forward, and his captivating story became a myth, an urban legend, and an enigma that gave rise to much speculation.
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PTSD After Trauma

Almost 4,000 still suffering with PTSD after 9-11 in New York

9/11 -- Remembrance and Renewal: Thousands Still Coping with PTSD
(NEW YORK) -- A decade after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, thousands are still feeling the emotional impact.

After 9/11, a unified spirit helped Americans cope.

"There was a real sense of solidarity in the community which I think probably limited the [emotional] damage," says Dr. John Markowitz at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

But there are nearly 4,000 people who are still suffering with 9/11-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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They shared a moment of crisis, and the anguish that remained

9/11 IN FOCUS
They shared a moment of crisis, and the anguish that remained
ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY
OLD BRIDGE, N.J.— From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011

Deputy U.S. marshal Dominic Guadagnoli helps a women after she was injured in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Sept. 11, 2001. The Injured woman was later identified as Donna Spera. —Gulnara Smoilova/AP

It wasn’t until she collapsed outside the building that the pain took over.

Throughout the 78-storey trek to the bottom of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, Donna Spera was unaware of her surroundings, the passage of time or her own condition.

She remembers blood on the stairs, but didn’t think it was hers. She recalls crawling over an elevator smashed through the stairwell, but not how her legs became lacerated. She couldn’t figure out why a friend wrapped his shirt around her hand.

But once outside, she became aware of the scorched and melted skin on her arms and back; of her gashed knees, shattered hand and bloody scalp.

And that’s when Dominic Guadagnoli grabbed her.

The deputy marshal, who’d been working in a courthouse nearby, made a dash for the World Trade Center shortly after the planes hit.

The people he helped out of the towers came in waves of escalating injury: First the relatively unscathed; then the dust-caked, the water-soaked, the shell-shocked and slightly battered. And then Ms. Spera.

“I just scooped her up and ran. ... I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I got you.’ ”
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Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq

Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq

JAY CONNER/STAFF
Greg Amira was one of several wounded veterans attending a Memorial Day ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base.

By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 27, 2011


TAMPA --
Greg Amira leaned on his cane, medals dangling off his black suit jacket.

Bronze Star. Purple Heart. Army Commendation of Valor.

Amira was at MacDill Air Force Base on Thursday, one of several wounded veterans attending a Memorial Day ceremony there. He says he was moved by the memory of those who died in combat and felt a connection to the 13-foot-long, 1,400-pound hunk of iron near the base flag pole, a girder from the World Trade Center, brought in especially for this ceremony.


On Sept, 11, 2001, Amira, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserves, was in the 73rd floor of the South Tower, where he worked as vice president of investments at Morgan Stanley.


"I stayed up there until the planes hit," said Amira, who scrambled out of the stricken building, only to run back in to the North Tower, which was hit first and where most of the people were.

"Between my military training and the fact that my father, Irv, was a New York City police officer, my instinct was to run inside and help."

Amira said he and a firefighter were running around, pulling people out of rubble, checking to see who was still alive. He was in the lobby when the South Tower fell.

"It knocked me out," said Amira.

Then the North Tower fell. He was buried in rubble for five hours.

"I woke up with tubes in me," he said. "My left elbow came out of the skin. I had head trauma, back trauma and holes all over me."

Amira said he was ruled totally disabled by Social Security and Workman's Compensation. He was in line to receive $1.25 million from the Federal Victim's Compensation Fund.

"They told me I didn't have to work another day in my life," said Amira.

Then four years later, the Army called.

They wanted him to head to Iraq.
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Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq

One month from today, 9-11 7 years later

This is one of the sites the Bush administration would rather you did not see when you remember the day heroes rushed in while others were running away. They came from all over to help after one of the most traumatic events this nation had ever seen and many did it without pay then or pay back after. They are the police, firemen and first responders who spent weeks on end searching for the remains of the fallen and the civilians. They have been paying for it all ever since. They were volunteers for the most part and are not compensated by workmen's comp. Their health has kept far too many of them from working and most of them have received no financial help at all. All of this after they were called heroes after 9-11. They breathed in air the government knew could kill them and then deserted them. When the bell tolls a month from today, when the names are read of the fallen, remember these men and women and those who paid the price for their service to NY that day. They died and are dying for attention but no one wants to remember any of them in the position to take care of them.

There were contractors who rushed in from all over the country as well just trying to whatever they could and they are dying as well. Who is doing anything about any of this after all this time?

Here is just one picture you'll see on this site.

I'd like my wife to be remembered as a person who wasn't afraid to do her job, and her most important thing was the kids. Really, everything she did was for our two kids. When it came time to do her job she did her job, no questions asked. She was a very good mother, a good wife, and an excellent paramedic." - Husband David Reeve, FDNY Paramedic

The wake for FDNY Paramedic Deborah Reeve, who died of cancer from working at Ground Zero after 9/11. The Bronx, New York, 3/19/2006.

http://www.sohoblues.com/9-11-Still-Killing.html

Study Finds High Ground Zero Stress

Study Finds High Ground Zero Stress
By ANTHONY DePALMA
Published: May 21, 2008
A new study by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine suggests that the percentage of ground zero workers who suffered post-traumatic stress is roughly the same as for airline crash recovery workers and returning Afghanistan war veterans.

The study of 10,132 workers, published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives and released Tuesday, showed that roughly one in 10 rescue and recovery workers who toiled at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center in 2001 and 2002 reported disturbing flashbacks and recurring nightmares.

The results are based on self-reported symptoms provided by workers when they filled out a questionnaire during the study period, which began 10 months after the twin towers collapsed and continued for five years.

Workers with post-traumatic stress reported experiencing symptoms associated with the disorder — intrusive memories, insomnia and numbness of emotions — in the month before they were interviewed.

The study also found that stress can exacerbate a range of medical conditions, including heart, lung, stomach and autoimmune disorders, caused by environmental exposures.

Of the workers who participated in the study, 11.1 percent met the scientific criteria for probable post-traumatic stress. That is about the same percentage as for returning war veterans and is significantly higher than the 3 to 4 percent found in the general adult population.
go here for more
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/nyregion/21mental.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

Their bodies walked away,,,,,,,

but their minds never left.

With PTSD, they travel back in time. They see it all as if time became a magnet pulling them back to the event that changed them in an instant. The smell of the debris returns. The sounds of the crunching under their feet, the sounds of the equipment running, the voices of their friends, all of it reverberates in their ears. They feel their strength being drained from them, muscles ache from being tightened under the stress of the urgency. The disbelief of what they witnessed returns. It's like a horror movie replaying over and over again, only with this, they are there.

We are all just humans. No matter how much training provided to do jobs very few are willing to do, no training can dehumanize any of us enough to be untouched, unmoved, unchanged.

Soldiers train to kill but no one can train them to escape all that makes them human.

Police officers are trained to protect citizens and often this places their own life in danger. They are placed in positions when they have to make a life or death decision, but often they cannot simply deal with what comes after.

Firefighters and emergency responders, are trained to rescue and take care of citizens but there is no amount of training that can make them immune to the carnage they find after an accident or after a fire.

So how is it that so few of us understand what any of them go through? Is it because we depend on them to take care of us that we forget they sometimes need someone to take care of them?