When somebody asks you where you were on Sept. 11, 2001, how do you answer?
If you were in New York City, there's a health organization that might be looking for people like you.
Why is NYCOSH – the New York-based advocacy and health organization leading the effort to look for people in Texas?
"There are responders and survivors everywhere,” says Liam Lynch, the organization’s director.
In fact, there are an estimated 400,000 of them. And it is believed many of them have health problems that can be directly traced back to 9/11.
"Asthma, there's a list of over 50 types of cancer, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder,” Lynch says.
The list continues to include other respiratory conditions, and even some types of sleep apnea. [View the full list of eligible conditions here.]
Last year, NYCOSH teamed up with consulates in Texas to get the word out that there's money to help pay for the treatment of these conditions – 72,000 people have signed up. And more than 300,000 may not know that 14 years later, there's help available. While some people and some conditions weren't eligible under the 2001 Victim Compensation Fund, many of them are covered now by the 2011 Health & Compensation Act.
Lynch says he “feel[s] like the responders are the unsung heroes, and I'm on a mission to find them."
NYCOSH is currently looking for responders and survivors in Texas and from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador.
