The hero of the 9/11 attacks has died. Firefighter Ray Pfeifer died of cancer

Posted On: May 4, 2023

Ray Pfeifer lived in the rubble and dust haze of the collapsing World Trade Center (WTC) every day during the first week after the September 11, 2001 attacks. He even slept in his truck on the spot, according to an American website. CNN. And then for the next eight months he rummaged through the ruins, “looking for his friends,” as he called them.

However, Pfeifer didn’t intervene just at the attack site. He continued to help those affected by the attack for years afterward. He significantly helped the adoption of the so-called laws Damn Billwhich provides health care and compensation to those who intervened in the WTC and suffered health consequences.

He himself was among them. Eight years ago, doctors diagnosed him with cancer, which they said was related to his work at the WTC.

Zadroga Bill is named after him James Zadrog, a police officer who died of a respiratory illness attributed to his involvement in a rescue and recovery operation in the WTC wreckage. This refers to those who intervene in the immediate aftermath of an attack, whether they are bystanders, rescuers, or attack survivors.

A law passed by Congress in 2015 extended healthcare programs for those affected like Zadroga through 2090. By then, there were more than 33,000 people in the country, according to Congress.

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Pfeifer said after the bill was passed that he didn’t believe it would pass. “We are dealing with people who don’t understand. We are clinging to a fact that they will not forget. We are telling them: We are still dying because of terrorists. We are sick of terrorists. That’s when they start to wake up,” Pfeifer said. For his fight for Zadrogo, Bill was awarded the Golden Key by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio last year.

In its final stages, Pfeifer’s cancer spreads to the brain, lymph nodes, lungs, and adrenal glands. A firefighter died of the disease after a long battle this weekend. New York politicians and fire chiefs offer their condolences to the family.

“With the death of Ray Pfeifer, New York has lost a hero and inspiration. My prayers are with his family and all the firefighters,” Mayor de Blasio said on Twitter.