Ten days from today is the nineteenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack. That day was, of course, more than just a day. The ramifications of what happened in lower Manhattan, at the Pentagon, and on United Flight 93 have been felt every day since and shall continue to be felt much like ever-expanding circles on the smooth surface of a mountain lake after a stone is skipped across it. It is for that reason that September 11, 2001 is a date that no one should ever forget. In many significant ways, it is a day whose ending has not yet happened.
Sunday's New York Post included a piece by Carl Campanile that is equal parts heartbreaking and infuriating. It highlighted the toll that COVID-19 has taken - and continues to take - on the 09/11 community, including but not limited to first responders who fell ill due to prolonged exposure to toxins in the air and on the ground at Ground Zero while they worked there during the months following the attacks.
Michael Barasch, whose firm represents thousands of 9/11 survivors, first responders, and their next of kin enrolled in the Victims' Compensation Fund told the Post that almost one hundred of his clients have died within the past several months either contracted COVID-19 or are believed to have contracted it. As Mr. Barasch put it, "COVID attacks everyone, but the most vulnerable are those with respiratory illness who can't fight the virus...It shouldn't surprise us that so many in the 9/11 community are getting COVID and are unable to fight it."
One of 2020's victims of the 9/11/COVID-19 combination is Michael Hawkins, 69, a retired FDNY Fire Marshal who developed 9/11-related illnesses after working for weeks at a makeshift morgue near Ground Zero nineteen years ago. COVID-19 attacked him earlier this year and killed him on April 2, 2020. Another is Artie Lacker, 72, a driver for a construction company who spent two and one half years helping clear debris from Ground Zero. Mr. Lacker developed lung cancer and asthma due to his time spent at Ground Zero. Earlier this year, he fell ill with COVID-19. On April 22, 2020 it killed him. A third is Beatrice Granberg. Ms. Granberg, 79, worked near Ground Zero at Standard & Poors and for months following September 11, 2001, was exposed to the toxic air in the area around her office. She developed lymphoma. Earlier this year, she was hospitalized as part of her treatment and upon being discharged from the hospital, was released to a nursing home. On May 9, 2020, two weeks after being discharged from the nursing home, COVID-19 killed her.
Robin Lacker, Artie Lacker's widow, did not have the chance to wish her husband a proper farewell. He was hospitalized in April, when because of the COVID-19 pandemic she was not permitted to see him in the hospital. The couple said their final goodbyes via a Facebook chat. Her plea to her fellow New Yorkers? Wear your mask.
A reminder that words without actions are simply noise, of which this world has more than enough.
-AK
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