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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Continue to Rest in Peace Detective Zadroga

I was ready to blog about ten different items this AM, but when I entered the date and it hit me, September 11th.  Today marks the anniversary of the most horrific attack on America.  I often think about those who so tragically lost their lives, most memorably for me was NYPD Detective James Zadroga.  Detective Zadroga didn't lose his life on 9/11; he lost it five years later from a related cancer when his lungs could no longer exchange air.  He was at the World Trade Center site for hundreds of hours investigating and simultaneously subjected to toxic dust.   In less than two years after 9/11, he couldn't breathe without oxygen support.

You see he lived around the block from me growing up.  He was a little kid, I was a big kid.  His dad was a cop and so was mine.  Although he didn't lose his life on that tragic day, he eventually lost his life as a result of that tragic day.  If there is any good that came from his death, it was the Zadroga Act.  It is estimated that over 400 people have since lost their lives as a result of those same toxins, many who were heroes involved in the rescue, the search and the subsequent clean up at the WTC site.  The Zadroga Act provides for compensation to those families whose loved ones died of cancer or respiratory disease as a result of 9/11.  Today, the federal government will announce 50 additional cancers being added to the list covered under the Zadroga Act.   Continue your peaceful rest, Jimmy.

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