The 9/11 victim compensation fund, instigated to help compensate victims of the devastating attacks that took place just over 17 years ago, is nearing its end. The deadline to file claims is Dec. 18, 2020—but many victims of the attacks are only now discovering that they may need the fund’s help.

Indeed, nearly two decades later, countless first responders and those who lived or worked in the area of Ground Zero are now being diagnosed with dozens of kinds of cancer associated with the toxic fallout of the attacks.

2,996 people were killed in the initial attack on the towers, and another 6,000 were injured. But the danger didn’t end that day or even that week. Toxins weren’t declared cleared from the air until May 2002, when the federal government determined the air was breathable. In the years since that day, nearly 10,000 first responders and victims near the area have been diagnosed with cancer, and more than 2,000 have died from these diseases.

Unfortunately, 9/11-related cancers can turn fatal for many, and those who survive are still left to suffer from these serious diseases. These people might need help from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. 

“We’re seeing more people die, more people getting serious, aggressive cancers than ever before, and something tells me it’s not going to stop on Dec. 18, 2020,” said Michael Barasch, an attorney representing thousands of 9/11 cancer victims. “Cancer has no deadline,” Barasch noted.

The number of victims filing with the 9/11 victim compensation fund hasn’t slowed down in recent years. In fact, 9,155 more claims had been filed as of August 2018 than in the same period the previous year.

Many different people may have been exposed to these dangerous toxins and are eligible to receive money from the 9/11 victim compensation fund, including first responders, construction workers, city workers, and nearby students and residents.

Around 10,000 students were returned to Downtown schools after the attacks before the air was completely clean. Now in their 20s and 30s, these victims—many of whom already have asthma—are anxiously facing the possibility of being diagnosed years after the 2020 deadline for the 9/11 victim compensation fund.

“For us, it’s tremendously important,” said Lila Nordstrom, who was a senior in high school during the attack and has since founded StuyHealth, speaking to Downtown Express. “We’re probably the population with the most to lose from the VCF closing this early. We’re the most likely to keep developing conditions at a rate that keeps increasing.”

The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund

Those eligible for the 9/11 victim compensation fund lived, worked, or were near Ground Zero in the aftermath of September 11, 2001—any time before May 31, 2002—and were later diagnosed with one of over 70 types of cancer. These cancers include lung cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, leukemia, brain cancer, and many others. A full list of these cancer types is available on our investigation page.

Diagnosis of these cancers must have been made at least four years after the exposure, except in the case of blood and bone cancers, which must have been diagnosed at least one year after the exposure.