First Responders: 9/11 Health Claims Should be Fully Funded
First responders to the deadliest terror attack on American soil said rates of serious illnesses stemming from breathing the toxic air of Ground Zero have intensified in recent years as claims for the federal victim’s fund have increased. By the end of 2018, the fund had received 43,100 claims — more than 10,000 of which were filed in the last year.
“People all around me are dying and getting diagnosed with different diseases,” said John Venticinque, 57, from Deer Park, who responded in the days after 9/11 as a New York City firefighter and attended the rally with his son, Joseph. “Morale is OK; we want the compensation. We don’t have any regrets, but unfortunately this has affected us 10, 15 years later and that’s the really difficult part.”
