Forgotten World Trade Center Workers
9/11 was a horrific tragedy. For most Americans, the nightmare is receding into the past. Life goes on, and coping becomes easier with time. But for others, the pain continues on a steady course… and may do so for a lifetime. The rescue and recovery workers that cleaned up the World Trade Center wreckage did not get many thanks or much glory. But they did get very sick.
It’s hard to fathom the magnitude of destruction caused by the two kamikaze airliners that crashed into the twin towers on that clear, sunny morning in September. Two 110–story skyscrapers, each weighing around 350 million pounds, crumbled to the ground, billowing dust, smoke, and fire into the air. But it was not just the towers that were ruined—all seven of the buildings comprising the World Trade Center either collapsed or were demolished beyond repair. The heap of debris smoldered for three months.
Someone had to clean up the mess, and the team that did it consisted of 40,000 firefighters, police, medical responders, volunteers, and construction workers, and others. 40,000 pairs of lungs inhaled the caustic dust and noxious pollutants permeating the air. Six years later, thousands of these workers have severe respiratory problems, among them asthma, chronic hacking or “World Trade Center Cough,” and diminished lung function.
A recent study by Mount Sinai researchers found that nearly 70 percent of responders had new or worsened respiratory problems while working at ground zero. Other common health problems include chronic acid reflux, mental illness, and muscle, joint, and bone injuries from lifting heavy pieces of debris. And many of these ailments just won’t go away, even years after exposure to the noxious ground zero air. For many, the health consequences of the World Trade Center cleanup effort are debilitating, preventing them from exercising, working jobs require physical labor, and enjoying life as they once did.
For the past 5 years, doctors at Mount Sinai and other healthcare facilities in and around New York City have been monitoring and treating these workers through the WTC Worker and Volunteer Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program. Scribe Media talked to the doctors that run the program and accompanied one patient to his medical appointment.
I AM THE DAUGHTER OF RICHARD SANCHEZ,AND I THINK THAT THIS IS RIDICULOUS THAT THESE WORKERS HAVE TO SUFFER LIKE THIS!!!!! THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER DESTROYED SO MANY LIVES!!!!!MY BROTHER RICHARD SANCHEZ JR IS ASLO SUFFERING WITH THE SAME HEALTH PROBLEMS, SINCE WORKING IN GROUND ZERO…I THINK THE GOVERMENT NEEDS TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON SAVING LIVES THEN TAKIN LIVES!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE THESE WORKERS GET THE MUCH NEEDED HELP THEY ARE DUE!!!!!!!! THEY NEED IT!)
HI MY NAME IS ANNA SANCHEZ, MY FATHER IS RICHARD SANCHEZ HE WAS A WORKER IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.ITS SO SAD TO SEE MY FATHER GO THREW ALL HIS MEDICAL PROBLEMS NOW.BEFORE 911 HE WAS SO DIFFERENT.HE LOVED GOING PLACES WITH THE FAMILY,HE LOVED WORKING OUT EVERY SINGLE DAY.HE WAS A HAPPY MAN BEFORE 911.NOW THE ONLY PLACE HE GOES IS TO HIS DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS.I SEE IT IN HIS FACE HOW SADDENED HE IS.BUT HE TRYS TO HIDE IT.IM REALLY UPSET HOW MY FATHER AND ALL THE WORKERS OF 911 ARE GETTING TREATED,LIKE THERE NOTHING.THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO RAN TO RESCUE OTHER PEOPLE THEY DIDNT EVEN KNOW.MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL THE WORKERS AND LETS NOT FORGET THERE FAMILIES WHO DONT NO WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING BECAUSE OF THE MEDICAL PROBLEMS NOW.SO I ASK THE GOVERMENT WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO FOR MY FATHER AND ALL THE WORKERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT ARE LOSING THERE LIVES EVERY SINGLE DAY.WHILE YOUS SIT BACK AND ACT LIKE NOTHING EVER HAPPENED.BUT YOU KNOW WHAT GOD IS GOOD. HE SEE’S EVERYTHING.TO ALL WHO READS THIS WE NEED TO UNITE AS ONE.FOR ALL THE LOVED ONES WHO PASSED,FOR THE ONES WHOS GONNA PASS.AND FOR THE ONES WHO CANT FIGHT NOMORE.MY FATHER STANDS TALL BY HIMSELF.BUT WITH ALL HIS LOVED ONES STANDING BESIDES HIM,HE STANDS EVEN TALLER.