Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, many New York City residents are still grappling with complicated health conditions related to exposure to the toxic air and debris around ground zero.
“We were digging through the pile and using rakes to spread out all the debris to look for anyone’s remains,” says retired New York City firefighter Brenda Berkman. “We were working alongside really heavy equipment, as time went on, that picked up big loads of debris and dumped it, creating a cloud. This went on for 10 months. And at first, there was no proper decontamination at all.”
“EMS personnel were told, 'Oh, you couldn't be getting sick. You’re not a firefighter. So don’t worry. Just go back to work,’” says retired New York City EMT Marianne Pizzitola. “Moving into the years right after, … we started to find consistent diagnoses at our retiree meetings.”
Author and public health advocate Lila Nordstrom recounts how students at her school, Stuyvesant High School, located just three blocks away from ground zero, were also misled by officials after the attacks.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Democracy Now! | Radio Free (2026-09-08T12:28:29+00:00) Firefighter, EMT, Stuyvesant High School Student Describe 9/11 Exposure & Long Fight for Healthcare. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/09/08/firefighter-emt-stuyvesant-high-school-student-describe-9-11-exposure-long-fight-for-healthcare/
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