# N.Y.: NYPD Officer's death the result of 9/11



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

The Associated Press

N.Y. - A retired, 34-year-old New York City police detective who spent hundreds of hours searching for Sept. 11 victims at ground zero has died of a respiratory disease related to the cleanup, union officials said.

James Zadroga is believed to be the first emergency responder to die as a result of exposure to World Trade Center dust and debris, said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association.

"Unfortunately, I do not think he is going to be the last," Palladino said Saturday. Zadroga died Thursday at his home in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., officials said. Results of an autopsy were pending.

Zadroga had developed black lung disease and mercury on the brain as a result of working at ground zero, Palladino said. Palladino said Zadroga had worked up to 16 hours a day in rescue and recovery efforts the first month after the Sept. 11, 2001, collapse of the trade center towers.

He developed shortness of breath and other respiratory problems in the months after the attacks, and retired on disability in 2004.

A majority of residents and ground zero workers tracked by several different registries monitoring the participants' health have reported worsening respiratory problems in the years since the attacks.

Zadroga, a 13-year veteran of the force, had a 4-year-old daughter. His wife died of cancer in late 2004, Palladino said.







_Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed._


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## RedWaterMan (Dec 19, 2005)

Extremely unfortunate how all the worst parts of history find ways to stay around (PTSD, Gulf War Syndrome). I sympathize with the families of the victims of history's tragedies, and we must realize too that the heroes themselves are vulnerable to the toll.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*N.Y. Won't Clear the Air on Cop Killed by Fumes*

*MIKE KELLY, North Jersey Media Group*
_The Record (Bergen County, NJ)_










The New York cops who knew him well say Jimmy Zadroga definitely died from injuries suffered in the line of duty. Trouble is, New York's police brass haven't figured that out yet - and they're running out of time.

Zadroga's funeral is this morning in North Arlington.

The 9/11 attacks gave birth to all manner of tragic stories. But what happened to 34-year-old Zadroga, who grew up in North Arlington as the son of a borough police chief and joined the NYPD in 1991, surely ranks as one of the worst.

Like many New York City officers, Zadroga rushed to the World Trade Center soon after the suicide hijackers struck. Like many, he stayed for weeks and dug in the rubble pile in search of the dead. And then, like far too many, Zadroga had trouble breathing.

"He was as strong as an ox," said fellow NYPD Detective Tanya Mercado.

Of course, she was describing Zadroga before he spent day after day searching for bodies in the rubble pile at Ground Zero - about 470 hours, his detective's union says. Almost 40 12-hour shifts.

After that? "He had a lot of trouble breathing," Mercado said Monday as she stood in the lobby of a Kearny funeral home wiping tears from her eyes.

Across the Hudson, at NYPD headquarters, the official line is that Zadroga definitely got sick from breathing too much toxic dust at Ground Zero. Indeed, the NYPD issued a statement Monday, acknowledging that Zadroga left the force on a disability "as a result of pulmonary disease related to 9/11."

But the NYPD won't admit Zadroga's disease killed him.

"That's the heart of the matter," NYPD spokesman Jason Post acknowledged.

At issue is liability - and money. If Zadroga's death is linked to Ground Zero's toxic fumes, New York and perhaps the federal government could be held liable. And that might open the door to scores of claims and lawsuits.

After all, it wasn't the cops and firefighters who pooh-poohed fears about Ground Zero's toxic poisons; they raised questions about the fumes while bravely returning to the rubble pile to help recover victims' remains. The real culprits may yet be environmental officials, such as former Gov. Christie Whitman, who said the Ground Zero air was just fine.

But liability is only one problem here. The other is honor.

Twenty-three NYPD officers died when the twin towers fell. But as one of Zadroga's friends pointed out Monday, maybe its time for authorities to change that number.

"Jimmy is considered the 24th officer to die on 9/11," said former NYPD Detective Gerard Gansel, now a Franklin Lakes police officer.

If Zadroga's death is officially linked to an on-the-job disabling injury from Ground Zero, he would be entitled to a full-dress police funeral, with a band, a color guard, thousands of fellow officers and scores of dignitaries.

With no designation, Zadroga is just another retired cop, despite a whopping 38 department citations - seven for meritorious duty - in just 13 years.

"It's embarrassing," said a New York detective as he walked from the funeral home Monday. "There should be a full honor guard here."

It wasn't until late Monday afternoon that NYPD officials finally decided to send a 10-member pallbearer team and a bagpiper to Zadroga's funeral Mass today at North Arlington's Queen of Peace Catholic Church.

But that's the only honor Zadroga will get. The police color guard isn't coming. Neither is the band or the department's collection of high-ranking officers.

Things were so pathetic Monday that New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's office did not even have an opinion on whether the mayor would attend. Just after noon, a mayoral spokesman referred that question to the NYPD. Several hours later, the mayor's office called to say Bloomberg's schedule had been finalized; he was not going Zadroga's funeral.

How nice.

After leaving the NYPD, Zadroga's family said, he developed black lung disease, had high levels of mercury in his blood and needed round-the-clock oxygen, a wheelchair and finally constant bed rest.

"It was terrible," his father, former North Arlington Police Chief Joseph Zadroga, said.

But the story gets worse.

Zadroga's wife, Rhonda, died in 2003 of a heart ailment, possibly from stress over her husband's declining health, Zadroga's father said.

The couple leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter, Tylerann. She was born two months after 9/11.

Another 9/11 orphan.


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