It breaks your heart.
It breaks your heart.
Bravest assigned to Ground Zero during 9/11 to be laid to rest Saturday
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007...uring_9-1.html
BY JONATHAN LEMIRE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, November 30th 2007, 4:00 AM
An FDNY Emergency Medical Service lieutenant assigned to Ground Zero on 9/11 will be laid to rest Saturday - his life taken by his devotion to helping others, his colleagues say.
Lt. Brian Ellicott arrived at the World Trade Center site the night of the attack and logged more than 100 hours working near the smoldering pile in the following two weeks, according to the Uniformed EMS Officers Union.
Ellicott, 45, died Tuesday at Staten Island University Hospital after a three-month battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leaving behind a wife and two kids.
"Brian would always say, 'This is my job, this is what I have to do,'" said his former EMS partner, Edward Cosenza. "Danger never entered the equation for Brian."
"But what he did there made him sick," Cosenza said. "His body just gave out on him.... It was horrible to see."
The EMS Officers Union says Ellicott deserves to be listed as an official 9/11 victim.
To date, no first responder who became sick and died after toiling at Ground Zero has been added to the list.
"This was a true hero, and he lost his life doing his job and serving his city," said union President Thomas Eppinger. "His family deserves everything that should come to them."
An FDNY official confirmed that Ellicott arrived at Ground Zero shortly before midnight on 9/11 and was assigned to the site in the aftermath of the collapse. The official could not specify exactly how many hours Ellicott worked at Ground Zero.
Eppinger said the city has denied requests to classify Ellicott's death as in the line of duty, which would increase the benefits his family would receive.
An FDNY source said insufficient paperwork was filed for an increase in workers' compensation benefits. A decision on whether the death would be considered in the line of duty has not yet been made, the source said.
The city medical examiner conducted an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the results are pending, a spokeswoman said. Eppinger said two tumors were found along Ellicott's spine.
Signed time sheets, provided by union officials, indicate that Ellicott worked 113 hours - including 41 hours of overtime - at the World Trade Center between Sept. 11 and Sept. 22.
Ellicott was assigned to "morgue detail" and charged with transporting bodies recovered amid the ruins to a staging area on Vesey St., Cosenza said.
Ellicott did not wear a mask or any respiratory protection during those shifts, Cosenza said.
Union officials said Ellicott logged another 100 hours at the Ground Zero site in the weeks after the attack, but did not provide paperwork to detail those hours.
Ellicott, who lived on Staten Island, joined the FDNY in 1993 and had worked at EMS Station 4 on Manhattan's lower East Side. He was later promoted and became a supervisor of EMS dispatchers.
His funeral will be held at the Holy Child Catholic Church in Eltingville, Staten Island.
Many EMTs and paramedics who worked at Ground Zero fear his fate could become their own.
"We're asking, 'Is that going to be me?'" Eppinger said. "We're worried because we know Brian was as tough as they come."
How much do you want to bet the Medical Examiner AGAIN finds that this person didn't die from exposure to the toxic dust?
Devoted N.Y. 9/11 responder dies after battle with cancer
EMS lieutenant spent 100 hours on 'The Pile' killed by cancer at 45
http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-ems/articles/320277/
By Tevah Platt
Staten Island Advance
11/30/2007
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As an EMS worker, Lt. Brian Ellicott was best at comforting his patients: "When you're better, you'll go out dancing," he used to tell them, distracting them from their pain. Lt. Ellicott, described as a big, "teddy bear" of a guy and a father of two, did that most every day.
Sept. 11, 2001, was different; there were few injuries to dress, just toil to be done in the dust.
Lt. Ellicott spent months working in "The Pile" at Ground Zero, toiling for 100 hours in the first two weeks after the terrorist attacks, according to the Uniformed EMS Officers Union.
His partner said he'd spent those hours facing the fact that "you never know when your time is going to come."
Lt. Ellicott didn't know that his own life span may have been refigured in those first 100 hours of labor.
Physicians and researchers are hesitant to draw a link between Sept. 11 and cancer, a disease that can take years or even decades to emerge after patients are exposed to carcinogens.
But whether or not Lt. Ellicott's work was tied to his death, as his family and some of his co-workers firmly believe, his 100 hours of service in the days when the environmental risk was the greatest representation of the life he led and his commitment to the city at large.
The FDNY Emergency Medical Service worker and Great Kills resident died Monday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was 45, and the third Staten Islander this year to die from an illness potentially tied to the recovery effort, according to Advance records.
The Brooklyn native moved to Eltingville in 1972 and graduated from Tottenville High School.
His 'Soulmate'
In 1986, he wed Deborah Thoma, a friend from childhood and his absolute "soulmate," she said. After their wedding at Borough Hall, the couple remained in Eltingville until they settled in Great Kills two years ago.
Lt. Ellicott began working as a machinist at a former Champion Envelope manufactory in New Jersey. But the death of his mother, Mary Ellicott, in 1990, prompted him to pursue a career in the medical field, his wife said.
He worked for the Dell Ambulance Co. out of Brooklyn for two years before he joined the Bravest in 1993, working first at Station 4 in Manhattan's Lower East Side and later as a supervisor of emergency medical dispatchers at the FDNY's Brooklyn headquarters.
FDNY officials confirmed that Lt. Ellicott worked at Ground Zero in 2001 out of Station 4.
He liked the thrill and excitement of the job, of not knowing what might happen from one day to the next, said his partner, Edward Cofenza, whom Lt. Ellicott trained while working at Dell.
He also loved being able to help people, and his gentle but firm manner put his patients at ease, said Mr. Cofenza. "He lived for his job and for his children."
Loved His Leisure
Lt. Ellicott was a gamer and an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy novels. He shared his love of Dungeons and Dragons with his children, especially his daughter, Rose, and he volunteered with Cub Scout Pack 6 when his son, Brandon, was a member.
His illness emerged suddenly and lasted three "short, but long" months, Mrs. Ellicott said.
Lt. Ellicott spent only 12 days at home and the rest in the hospital after he initially sought treatment for pain in his shoulder.
Doctors don't know what causes non-Hodgkins lymphoma, but exposure to certain chemicals has been identified as a risk factor.
The toxic dust-cloud that shrouded Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11 contained various dangerous substances, including dioxins, benzene and asbestos; the 14,500-some New York City firefighters and EMS workers who worked at Ground Zero had some of the greatest exposure to toxins there.
Thousands of workers have become sick after responding at the World Trade Center site; a report issued by Mount Sinai Medical Center, which operates an ongoing screening program, found that nearly 70 percent of Ground Zero workers suffered lung problems as a result of their exposure to toxins in the dust-cloud.
But the number of fatalities from illnesses tied to the recovery effort is not known, in part because it is nearly impossible to determine a causal link between exposure at Ground Zero and illnesses that arise on an individual basis.
An FDNY Report
The FDNY in September released a 64-page report, the "Six-Year Assessment on the Health Impacts of 9/11 on FDNY Rescue Workers," that contained a promissory note on the subject: "It is too soon to comment on patterns or types of cancers. We are in the process of intensive investigation and will continue to obtain information from active members and retirees before finalizing our statistical analyses. A full report will be forthcoming in the near future."
Manhattan trial lawyer David Worby has filed more than 10,000 lawsuits claiming the city failed to protect workers from toxins.
And as federal and local governments respond to pressure to pay for health treatment for first responders and others exposed to the post-9/11 toxic dust and debris, illnesses are reported in increasing numbers - including numerous cancers, police officers and firefighters say. FDNY authorities urge that rescue workers, including retirees, continue to be monitored for late-emerging diseases.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that all these healthy men who were working in their 30s are dying in their 40s now," said John Feal, head of the not-for-profit Feal Good Foundation, which advocates for 9/11 responders and their families. "In 10 years, we're going to outnumber the people who died [on Sept. 11]."
All three Sept. 11 responders who died this year on Staten Island were in their 40s; all left wives and children.
In addition to his wife of 21 years, Deborah, and his children, Rose and Brandon, Lt. Ellicott is survived by his father, William; a brother, Matthew, and a stepsister, Alice Van Pelt.
The funeral will be Saturday from the John Vincent Scalia Home for Funerals, with a mass at 10:45 a.m. in Holy Child R.C. Church, both in Eltingville. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, N.J.
Cop's widow rallies for name on 9/11 list
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ne...,3682745.story
BY ANDREW STRICKLER | andrew.strickler@newsday.com
December 2, 2007
It was the desire for recognition of James Godbee Jr.'s nearly two decades in NYPD blue, and the memory his children will carry of their father, that compelled his widow to try to have his name added to the registry of 9/11 victims, her attorney said.
"Emotionally, for her and the children, she wanted to see him recognized," attorney John Rudden said Tuesday about Michelle Haskett-Godbee, whose husband died in 2004. "It was not a dollar-and-cents thing."
But that effort was thwarted after city Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch, who reviewed Godbee's medical records at his family's request, concluded in June that his death was not a direct result of the World Trade Center attacks because he got to the site two days later.
Officer Godbee, who was 44 when he died, initially worked in Manhattan housing projects as a New York City Housing Authority police officer. After the NYPD absorbed that department in 1995, he joined the 18th Precinct in midtown and continued to work as a housing patrolman, according to the attorney.
On Sept. 13, 2001, Godbee was assigned to help direct traffic and work security on the WTC site perimeter in lower Manhattan, where he remained for hundreds of hours.
Almost immediately, Rudden said, Godbee began coughing and showing other signs of pulmonary illness. He was hospitalized with a collapsed lung in March 2004 and died later that year. His autopsy attributed his death to scarring of the lungs.
Although Godbee's family will not fight the medical examiner's decision, Rudden said, they remain convinced his name should appear with 2,750 others who lost their lives in the attack. "He worked there, he did his service and he died as a result of it," Rudden said. "There is no question about it."
Rudden said Michelle Haskett-Godbee got some comfort in the NYPD's recognition of her husband's service, and she began receiving his pension benefits earlier this year after an initial denial of line-of-duty benefits was reversed.
The money has helped Haskett-Godbee buy a home in Teaneck, N.J., where she now lives with her daughter Imani, 9, and son, Kai. "Financially, they are taken care of, but these two children have no father," Rudden said.
Demonstrators Set To Gather Outside M.E.'s Office To Protest 9/11 Related Deaths
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index...id=1&aid=76133
December 02, 2007
A protest is planned today over the classification of some 9/11 related deaths, one day after an EMS worker who took part in the recovery at the World Trade Center was laid to rest.
A group is set to protest at the medical examiner's office today arguing some deaths in the wake of the terror attacks have been misclassified.
On Saturday, a funeral service was held on Staten Island for Lieutenant Brian Ellicott. He died last Monday of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, after being diagnosed just three months before.
His union and other mourners believe Ellicott's death is a direct result of his work at the World Trade Center site. A claim for Ellicott's family to receive worker's compensation was not approved.
The FDNY says that's because it was submitted incorrectly. The department says the family is eligible to reapply in his name.
CITY BEGINS MAJOR 9/11 CANCER STUDY
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12022007...udy_193657.htm
By SUSAN EDELMAN
December 2, 2007 -- The city Health Department has launched a sweeping study - the first of its kind - of cancers among 9/11 responders and thousands of others who lived or worked near the World Trade Center.
"We're starting to look at all cancers now. It's a high priority," said Lorna Thorpe, the department's deputy commissioner for epidemiology.
"There's reason for concern," Thorpe said, because of known carcinogens in Ground Zero dust and smoke such as benzene, asbestos, silica, and chemicals emitted in fires.
The study aims to identify all cancers among 71,000 people in the city's WTC Health Registry, including Twin Towers survivors and nearby office workers, lower Manhattan residents, kids, school staff, and 31,000 rescue, recovery and cleanup workers.
The study is already zeroing in on blood cancers - leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma - which can develop in two to 10 years, sooner than most tumor cancers.
Blood cancers recently killed two 9/11 heroes. A funeral was held in Staten Island yesterday for FDNY emergency medical service Lt. Brian Ellicott, 45, a father of two who died Tuesday of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
NYPD Sgt. Michael Ryan, 41, a father of four, died of the same disease Nov. 19.
susan.edelman@nypost.com
Thank you Susan for being the only thing worth a damn at the NYPost.
Jon Gold
Her response...
Thanks for your support.
Rally for 9/11 responders Sunday
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=5808683
Sunday, December 02, 2007 | 9:42 AM
NEW YORK -- -- A rally today in Manhattan aims to highlight the deaths of emergency responders who were exposed to toxic chemicals at Ground Zero.
Protesters say the New York City medical examiner should recognize that responders who died should be officially considered victims of the 9/11 attacks.
The protestors will march outside the medical examiner's office at First Avenue and 30th Street.
They are also asking the New York State health commissioner to take up the issue.
Doctor Narrows Definition of 9-11 Death
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...uYMzgD8T9KV600
By AMY WESTFELDT – 21 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Police Officer James Godbee began directing traffic just outside the World Trade Center site two days after Sept. 11, 2001, working hundreds of hours before developing a cough.
He died in 2004 of sarcoidosis, a disease that studies have linked to inhalation of toxic dust that hung over the towers' ruins for months. But because he was not at the trade center when the towers collapsed, the city medical examiner has declined to add him to the official Sept. 11 victims' list.
With government officials, scientists and courts in a continuing debate over which deaths can be linked to the trade center dust, Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch has so far drawn the most narrow definition as he considers requests to reclassify several respiratory deaths as homicides.
"All persons killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and others who died later from complications of injury or exposure directly caused by the collapse of the twin towers on that day are homicide victims," Hirsch wrote in a letter made public last week that denied a request to call the 44-year-old Godbee a homicide victim. "Mr. Godbee's manner of death will remain 'natural.'"
For Hirsch to consider ruling as a homicide the death of a person exposed to trade center dust, "they had to be there at the time of attack, up to and including when the towers came down and the dust form settled," said spokeswoman Ellen Borakove.
"This has been the standard that was decided in our office. There had to be a cutoff," she said.
The decision means Godbee will not be listed on the official Sept. 11 memorial. No money is at stake.
Some other medical examiners and experts called the distinction arbitrary. Families and attorneys of ailing or dead workers said it was wrong.
"What happened 9/11 and in the aftermath of 9/11 can by no stretch of the imagination be called natural," attorney Norman Siegel said Sunday at a news conference protesting Hirsch's decision.
Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police, said Hirsch's distinction was artificial.
"It's very arbitrary and unprecedented that someone who inhaled the dust a minute before midnight is a homicide and someone who inhaled the dust a minute after midnight is natural," he said. "If somebody dies as a result of an illegal act, then it's murder."
While Hirsch declined to add Godbee to the Sept. 11 victims' list, the officer had already received line-of-duty benefits from a police pension board.
Scientific studies that have found links to respiratory disease and work at ground zero are based on patients who were at the trade center on and after Sept. 11. A federal judge hearing a lawsuit filed by thousands who said they were made sick by ground zero dust has not put those caught in the dust cloud into a separate category.
Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the Sept. 11 victim compensation fund that distributed more than $1 billion to people who said they became sick at or near ground zero, limited the fund to workers who were at the trade center site within four days of Sept. 11, or residents who were there within 24 hours.
He cited a congressional statute that said the fund was to help people killed or injured on Sept. 11 or in its immediate aftermath.
"I had to decide, what is immediate aftermath?" said Feinberg. "I think the line drawing has to be done with care."