Let’s start here: http://www.firehouse.com/news/911news/fdny-study-confirms-rise-cancer-after-911. In short, a credible study, published in The Lancet (a highly reputable medical journal) has found “a modest excess of cancer cases in the WTC-exposed cohort [firefighters employed after 9/11]” (http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60989-6/abstract). You may have noticed in the first article, the third leading cause of death from cancer, impacting those firemen who were responsible for digging through the rubble at the WTC, was identified as blood cell cancer (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma & leukemia). Ten years after 9/11, the impact of the two planes ramming into the Twin Towers are still felt. Though the video footage is nowhere near as dramatic, and there are no mega-memorials at athletic events, the men and women who are dying from cancer are just as much victims of terrorism as those who died on 9/11.
I was led to research this issue by a clip on CBS 2’s 9/11 look back show, which I flipped to while I watched the Jets – Cowboys play on Monday Night Football. I happened to catch a piece on NYPD’s Ladder 1 Company, which somehow didn’t lose a single firefighter on 9/11, despite being one of the first firehouses to respond to the WTC. However, last year, one firefighter passed away from AML, which his doctors attributed to carcinogens he inhaled while working “on the pile” at the WTC. As I flipped to another station, I saw a clip of family members reading the names of lost loved ones. I then thought of the opening ceremonies of the Monday Night Football game, with a huge, unfurled flag and 70,000 fans chanting “U-S-A”. Then, I was reminded of the fact that this year, in honor of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, 9/11/11 was appointed as a “national day of service”.I hate to say it, but I didn’t do anything specific for the national day of service, and I am willing to bet that I am in the majority of the US population. I had my daughter’s birthday party, yesterday, not to mention the all-important NFL football games to watch. I also woke up real early to train for my triathlon. I am sure that we all have good excuses and we don’t always have time to be of service on a day specified by the US Government (or be romantic on the exact day that Hallmark has told us we need to be regular-Romeos) and I don’t mean to suggest that we shouldn’t have memorials, commemorations or even spectacles with gargantuan flags to commemorate 9/11, either.
What I do suggest is that we need to remember that many of us are lucky enough to chant “U-S-A”, watch a mega-ceremony put on by the NFL or watch a show on TV on 9/11 and then resume our regularly scheduled lives on 9/12. Those people who have lost loved ones don’t get to walk away from 9/11 on 9/12. There are also many people who are a step closer to 9/11 every day that they are removed from it, because with every day they are a step closer to a date with cancer that is a direct byproduct of 9/11. Those direct responders and their family members will not get to walk away, be it in a few months or a few years.
Now, I want to take a moment to say that I am not trying to downplay or be insensitive to a lot of people that I know who were in Manhattan on 9/11/01, who were directly impacted, physically and/or psychologically. Plenty of people who watched the events of the day either live or on TV bear some real emotional scars, and I recognize that. I am sure that a large segment of the population has some close connection to 9/11 through friends and/or family who worked in the WTC or the Pentagon, were a first responder, were involved in the aftermath, etc. Personally, other than watching the events of the day unfold on TV, I have marginal intimate connection with the actual events of the day, other than my years of working and going to school in NYC and spending many hours photographing the Twin Towers for a photojournalism class. I know how much that day impacted and continues to impact me and I can’t imagine what the impact has been on others.
What I hope to accomplish with this post is to remind myself (and maybe you) of the ongoing nature of 9/11; that we can’t just let the events of the day go because it’s now September 12th, 10 years after the fact. I also hope to inspire you, my readers, to take some time to do some good in honor of 9/11 – it doesn’t matter what the actual date is, it matters what is in your heart. I also want to alert you to the fact that there is something that you can do that might save a life from 9/11/01 on 9/12/11. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is on the front line of research for blood related cancers. There are firefighters and police officers who will be impacted by cancer that research indicates has a likelihood of being caused by the events of 9/11. While there is no guarantee that a cure for blood cancer will be found in time to save first responders, every dollar makes it more likely.
You can donate to the LLS, and sponsor my triathlon bid here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/wch/wchtri11/aspiraq31yAs I have said before, if you have a favorite charity that you have a connection to, this is a great time to donate to that charity. It is a terrific and important way to remember the events of September 11th, and with a little bit of luck and the grace of G-d, maybe, just maybe, we can find a cure in the near future so that we don’t have to have to lose another of our brave members of the FDNY to the ongoing tragedy of 9/11.
