In the coming days, a sombre annual ritual will take place in lower Manhattan: the ceremony held on September 11 to honour the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, when almost 3,000 people died. This year’s event will incorporate something new, says Elizabeth Hillman, president and chief executive of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. A moment to honour the long-term suffering of the wider community around the World Trade Center.
One of the most disturbing legacies of that awful day has been that the toll of casualties did not end in the days and weeks following September 11. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 125,000 responders and survivors are suffering from long-term health problems caused by the attack. These range from lung disease caused by inhaling toxic smoke, to mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or cancers linked to chemicals. An estimated 31,000 have a certified cancer.
Unsurprisingly, premature deaths in this cohort are high. Kerry Kelly, the former chief medical officer of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), who got caught in a toxic smoke cloud at the WTC on September 11, says that the number of firefighters who have died from long-term 9/11 afflictions “is now approaching, if not exceeding” the 343 who perished on the day itself.