As if dealing with COVID-19 wasn’t stressful enough, a 9/11 worker was pushed to the limits when his cancer returned amid the pandemic. Despite the challenges, his strength and resilience shined through, and he walked out of the hospital as one of the first people to beat cancer during the outbreak. Talk about a super survivor.
Neil Carroll, 58, worked at Verizon during September 11th, and was one of the people who checked and installed cables after the attack. In order to do his job, Carroll says that he had to wipe the dust off of cable boxes and wires with his hand and would blow the dust from his hand with his mouth. He suspects he ingested some of the dust as a result.
Read More9/11 Linked To Cancer Diagnoses
Due to the toxic air and chemical exposure after September 11th, there’s been studies examining the national tragedy’s link to an increased amount of cancer diagnoses. According to a top doctor at NYU Langone Health, an estimated 300,000 people might have been exposed to the toxic air, and therefore might be more at risk of developing cancer.
Organizations such as The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated around 400,000 people in lower Manhattan were exposed to a mix of substances such as asbestos, lead, and benzene not only on the day of the attacks, but for months afterward. In order to screen for possible cancers in those who were exposed to chemicals, The World Trade Center Health Program was created to help those affected. However, experts say that there’s still hundreds of thousands of people who are not taking advantage of the program and might be missing a cancer diagnosis in the process.
“There's a lot of people out there that really need help and really need to be vigilant,” says Dr. Gaetane Michaud, the Chief of Interventional Pulmonology at NYU Langone Medical Center. It's not just lung cancers. It's lung cancers, breast cancers, esophageal cancers, thyroid cancers. These patients, these people should be screened and be watched. Even if you think even just beyond cancers, there's all kinds of other World Trade related lung diseases."
Experts say not enough people who were exposed to 9/11 are getting screened for cancer
People Who’ve Gone Through It Say “Get Screened”
For many people who have gone through cancer, they turn to raising awareness about the disease. John Feal was one of the responders tackling Ground Zero during the 9/11 attacks, and he’s well aware of his increased risk of developing cancer due to his exposure to the chemicals in the air. Now, he’s urging people to get screened regularly so they don’t have to live in fear. John is the founder and president of the Feal Good Foundation which helps people who were affected by 9/11 to get the healthcare that they need.
“I look over my shoulder every day wondering, when do I get 9/11 cancer?” Feal says. “There’s now over 90,000 people in the World Trade Center Health Program that were affected by 9/11. Over 40,000 of them are being treated for more than two illnesses. This is real. This is not made up. This is staggering. Them men, those women– I’m one of them. I’m scared shitless myself. I never wore a mask down there once. Nobody ever said, John, put on a mask. It might help.”
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