The number of New York City Fire Department personnel who have died as a result of 9/11-related illnesses now stands at 343, the same number as the number of people who died in the terrorist attacks themselves on September 11, 2001.
According to a statement posted to social media, two more FDNY members passed away from 9/11-related ailments in September, just after the 22nd anniversary of the World Trade Centre attacks.
The fire department’s emergency medical technician, Hilda Vannata, died of cancer on September 20.
According to her obituary, Vannata was born in Puerto Rico and relocated to New York City when she was young.
According to her obituary, she joined the fire department in 1988 and worked as an EMT for Battalion 14 at Lincoln Hospital for the next 26 years.
On Saturday morning, retired firefighter Robert Fulco passed away from pulmonary fibrosis, becoming the second fire department member to pass away this week.
Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh stated in a statement, “We have long known this day was coming, yet its reality is astounding just the same.”
We lost 343 heroes yesterday, and another 343 have died today. No one in the New York Fire Department will ever forget them. The legacy we leave behind is this. This, she said, was a promise.
Diseases linked to the World Trade Centre assaults are on the rise, and so is the number of firefighters and first responders who have perished as a result of their work at ground zero, as Kavanagh has pointed out.
The fire brigade claims that 3,500 firemen have developed cancer as a direct result of their work at the World Trade Centre. An increased risk of cardiovascular illness, lung disease, cancer, and other disorders has been attributed to exposure to the toxic compounds in the disaster’s aftermath.
There were a lot of us there that day, and a lot of us didn’t make it out. Kavanagh remarked, “The legacy we leave for them is one of honour and one of promise.”
As a result, “we continue to advocate for the survivors, and we will not stop pushing until all our members have the care they deserve for the rest of their lives,” she explained.
The World Trade Centre Health Registry is currently tracking the health of over 71,000 persons who were in the immediate neighbourhood of the 9/11 attacks or who were first responders.
Employees of the World Trade Centre who were forced to escape their offices, as well as passersby, residents of neighbouring buildings, and volunteers who spent time at ground zero in the weeks after the attacks, continue to feel the consequences of the assaults on their health.
