Over the past four months, almost 40 individuals have died from 9/11 illnesses related to their exposure to toxic chemicals after the terrorist attacks.

Health care advocates recently reported that almost 40 people who either responded to the terrorist attacks or worked near the World Trade Center during the attacks have died due to illnesses related to the attacks since September. Although these individuals survived the gruesome attacks that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people, the toxic chemicals released from the attacks claimed their lives years later.

“Every time someone dies, a part of me dies,” 9/11 survivor advocate John Feal told the Daily News. “You can have a week without posting a death, and then you can get four in a week. It’s just weird.” 

Feal is a 9/11 first responder and the founder of the Feal Good Foundation, an organization which aims to “assist all emergency personnel, including but not limited to, firefighters, police officers, nurses, volunteers, sanitation workers, transportation workers and construction workers, within the United States who have been injured, or face serious injury due to action or omission, in the course of their duties or within their everyday lives.” 

Feal estimates that, based on the current rate of deaths due to 9/11 illnesses, deaths due will match or exceed 163 by Sept. 1, 2019. A total of 163 deaths occurred due to a 9/11 related illness between Sept. 1, 2017, and Sept. 1, 2018, but Feal estimates that the number will increase.

Every year on September 11th, Feal adds the names of those killed by 9/11 related illnesses to his Wall of Heroes.

“Every time someone dies of a 9/11 illness, that’s a family suffering. But there is such a lack of empathy for the 9/11 community,” Feal said. “Everybody asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year. “I told them, ‘I want humanity to come back.’”

Many 9/11 illnesses, including various cancers, can be attributed to the toxic chemicals released by the collapse and aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Jet fuel, aluminum, glass, and asbestos were among the toxins released. Due to the latency period associated with many of these materials, some first responders and New York residents are only now developing illnesses such as cancer.

Luckily, there are avenues of compensation and assistance available for those affected by the terrorist attacks. By the end of November 2018, 41,729 claims had been filed with the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, a federal relief effort which aims to compensate first responders and other victims for the costs of treatment and living expenses associated with their treatment.

Although the fund is set to expire in 2020, Feal and other 9/11 health advocates plan to advocate for the extension of the fund in 2019. However, it is uncertain whether or not the fund will be able to compensate for the tremendous number of individuals affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks because the amount of money in the fund is finite. Starting in February, the fund will reportedly start amending its payouts – meaning that new claimants may receive less money than those who received payouts for the same illness a year ago.