9/11 Beyond

If someone were to ask you how many people died as a result of the 9/11 attacks what would you say? If you have even the most basic sense of history about September 11th 2001 then you would likely say that around 3,000 people were killed as a result of the attacks, but the truth is nearly 10,000 people have perished as a result of the September 11th attacks.

On September 11th 2001 the world was brought to its knees when 19 Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four US jet liners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Washington, DC and an empty strip mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. A lot of realizations were made that afternoon. One was that we were walking into a new kind of war. Of course the other realization was that thousands of innocent people had perished as a result of the attacks. As a young child who was watching the attacks on TV at the time I would’ve never guessed that thousands more would die as a result of the attacks, all the way up to this very moment.

The 9/11 attacks took place over the course of just two hours. So how then are people still dying as a result of the attack up until this very moment? I think the best answers to sum up that question is health and heartache.

Between the jet fuel that smoke out of both the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, along with the dust that filled the air from these collapsed structures, countless people breathed in toxic chemicals that put their health in slow decline. Many rescue workers especially breathed in the obscurely toxic chemicals that filled the dust cloud that resulted from the collapse of the World Trade Center. Many people breathed in these toxins while fleeing the site of the towers as they collapsed. Others breathed them in when they returned the site after the collapse to help with the rescue and recovery efforts.

It’s widely known that health experts, especially those of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned New York City’s rescue workers against returning to the collapse site so soon and that when they did return they needed to be taking the appropriate health precautions. Though most did heed these warnings, most of the damage was already done. Cancer, respiratory illness, rhinosinitis, and even sleep apnea are some of the most common illnesses that resulted from having breathed in the dust of the World Trade Center collapse and thousands have died from these ailments. One of the most recent deaths due to the 9/11 health effects is retired New York City Fire department veteran John Tyrrell Jr.

While the health effects are the more apparent causes of death in the two decades since that September morning, the death cause that hasn’t been addressed enough is the emotional damage. 9/11 took thousands of lives and damaged countless more. Whether it was the family members of the slain or the survivors who just barely made it out alive, a lot of lives were scarred by the impact of that Tuesday morning. An example of a loved one who was left behind and became a casualty is that of Vanessa Lang Langer.

Vanessa Lang Langer was an evacuee from the south tower of the World Trade Center. She was nearly out of the building when the tower collapsed on top of her, killing her and the unborn baby she was pregnant with. Vanessa left behind a husband, Tim Langer. After her death he sank into a deep depression and drowned in alcoholism. Tim died of liver failure in 2003. Like Tim Langer you can find countless stories of people lost a loved one in the attacks and they sank into a deep depression, formed unhealthy attachments and their lives just unraveled. Many of these people lost their lives to addiction and poor health because of the undoing done to them by grief. I’ve always felt like this has never been addressed enough.

Whether it’s due to ailing physical or mental health. 9/11/01 is still claiming lives 23 years later. It’s a testament to how impactful that day still is and why we must never forget. If anything these deaths need to be an inspiration to help even the most complete stranger we cross paths with. You never know what they could be dealing with. These post 9/11 victims were dying inside and the worse part is many people didn’t seem to care enough until their bodies were in the ground. Countless more are alive and breathing and could definitely use some support. Be open to giving it because you never know who’s life it may save.

~Dedicated to every victim of 9/11 who perished during and after September 11th 2001.