Monday, October 12th 2009
A firefighter and two cops who worked at Ground Zero in the days and weeks after Sept. 11 have died of cancer in the past five days, the Daily News has learned.
Family members and advocates are blaming their deaths on toxins released into the air after the twin towers collapsed - and they're urging Congress to act on a bill that would help pay for their medical care.
"Everybody is denying that this stuff is connected to 9/11, but it is," said Stephen Grossman, whose son Robert died of cancer on Friday at the age of 44.
Robert Grossman was a police officer in Harlem who worked at Ground Zero for several weeks after Sept. 11.
"He never once said he was sorry he went down there," Grossman said. "None of them walked away even though they all knew it was really dangerous."
The day after Grossman passed away, Firefighter Richard Mannetta, 44, died of cancer. And last Wednesday, 37-year-old Police Officer Cory Diaz died of cancer.
Firefighter John McNamara, 44, died of cancer last month.
"Unfortunately, it's just going to happen more and more," Stephen Grossman said. "I hope next week there isn't four."
Grossman said even though his son lost his battle, there are still many more first responders who are sick.
"This country just says, 'That's fine. We'll just wait another 15 to 20 years and you'll all be dead and we'll all be sorry,'" he said. "This country is better than that."
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