It has been 17 years since first responders rushed in, paying no mind to their own health and safety to rescue, and eventually recover, those who were victims of the September 11 attacks.
Since that day, 10,000 first responders from the World Trade Center have been diagnosed with cancer.
So far more than 2,000 have died. But by the end of this year, some experts believe that the number will grow to more than the 2,977 people who lost their lives in the attacks.
The World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center of Excellence at Mount Sinai documents the physical and mental health issues that those who were at the 9/11 site are still facing. Some of the conditions include: upper and lower respiratory issues, gastrointestinal problems, musculoskeletal disorders, mental health conditions and various types of cancer.
For first responders, the rate of some cancers is 30 percent higher than the general population, the Journal News reported.
And it isn’t just limited to those who went into service at Ground Zero. Some are concerned about those who worked in the recovery effort at Pier 94, those who were sifting through the debris at Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island and even the local mechanics who worked on the dust-covered trucks that carried the remains of the World Trade Center.
There may be some who don’t even know they are sick yet, so the compensation act was extended through 2090.