The New York Daily News is reporting the number of first aid responders diagnosed with cancer after helping victims during the September 11 terrorist attacks is growing.
They report:
Cancer has become a reality for more than 1,000 men and women who sacrificed their health at Ground Zero — and the number is expected to grow.
“You get a lump in your throat when you first have to tell your wife,” said NYPD Detective Amadeo Pulley, 47, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in May. “But I told my family and two kids I’m gonna be fine. We will get through this.”
As New York and the nation approach the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attack, a Mount Sinai Medical Center study found a 15% higher cancer rate among 9/11 responders than among people not exposed to the Ground Zero toxins.
As of August, 1,140 responders and people who worked, lived or studied in lower Manhattan have been certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to have a WTC-related cancer.
“There are more cases out there, because we just know of the people in our government-funded medical programs, not those who have been treated by their private doctors,” said Dr. Jim Melius, who is chairman of the steering committee for the WTC Responder Medical Program and a 9/11 Health Watch board member.
Continue Reading here.
