美国国家公共电台 NPR Honoring The Other Fallen Of Sept. 11: Sickened Ground Zero Volunteers（在线收听）

Honoring The Other Fallen Of Sept. 11: Sickened Ground Zero Volunteers 

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Fifteen years ago, 8,000 pounds of steel crushed John Feal's foot as he worked, digging through the rubble of the World Trade Center. Feal considers himself blessed to have been in the hospital for months while other 9/11 responders inhaled toxic dust on the job. He now devotes himself to keeping up what's thought to be the only memorial for those who died of illnesses tied to work at Ground Zero. Cassandra Basler of member station WSHU has his story.

CASSANDRA BASLER, BYLINE: A stack of folders with the names of construction workers, police and firefighters and volunteers rests at John Feal's feet. Feal checks their spelling before he can send names to the engraver, who'll put them on his memorial wall.

JOHN FEAL: So now I'm working on the fatalities list of those who are going on the wall.

BASLER: Feal vets responders in his tidy home office in Nesconset, Long Island, for 10 hours a day. He reads obituaries and talks to families of those who died.

FEAL: It's like walking on glass barefoot. For not getting a salary and not getting paid, my job sucks (laughter), you know, because I've got some tough questions to ask.

BASLER: Questions like, can the family prove that the responder died of a disease linked to 9/11?

FEAL: I'm not the Baseball Hall of Fame. We're not trying to keep people out. We only care that they were at Ground Zero, they were being treated for a 9/11-related illness that was certified and that they had a VCF claim.

BASLER: Federal claims help responders treat nearly 70 cancers linked to exposure to Ground Zero. The World Trade Center Health Program has diagnosed 40,000 so far. Feal says getting injured at the site early on may have saved him.

FEAL: If I never got hurt, I would work the whole 10 months down there. And who knows? Maybe I would have got sick. I'm lucky. I'm blessed. I pale in comparison. I am so minute and so small to these men and women, hence why I do what I do.

BASLER: He feels a duty to care for the 9/11 community when federal programs fall short. So Feal helps organize golf fundraisers to support families left to cover medical bills, funerals and the loss of livelihood.

FEAL: Thank you for coming. Play golf. Have fun.

BASLER: Before tee-off at a recent fundraiser, Feal meets with his friend, Michael Barasch. Barasch's law office represents more than 2,500 sick responders with their claims.

MICHAEL BARASCH: This is a real epidemic now. It's heartbreaking to hear stories of people who have passed away - friends of mine.

BASLER: Barasch and Feal fought Congress for more federal funding when the Victims Compensation Fund couldn't accept any more applications. The VCF paid 9,000 people in the first group and is processing about 5,000 applications for the second.

BARASCH: Our frustration is based on seeing people get sicker and die waiting for the help that was supposed to come from the federal government.

BASLER: Jennifer McNamara is still waiting for a wrongful-death claim on behalf of her husband, who worked for the New York Fire Department. He died seven years ago of colon cancer before the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund was started. McNamara and others like her find some closure at the 9/11 Responders Remembered Memorial Park in Nesconset, Long Island. At a busy intersection, rows of shrubs and American flags separate a sushi restaurant from the memorial. Three polished granite walls named courage, honor and sacrifice stand engraved with the names of more than 700 responders. She visits the name of her late husband, John McNamara.

JENNIFER MCNAMARA: When you look at this wall, and you look at the - unfortunately, the ever-growing number of names - you realize how much you're not alone.

BASLER: She says this memorial brings together a larger 9/11 community.

MCNAMARA: You realize that we've all fought this battle.

BASLER: John Feal says the 9/11 community will continue helping Jennifer McNamara and the families of other responders who died, long after their names appear on the memorial. For NPR News, I'm Cassandra Basler.