Twenty-two years after the deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, a New Jersey man diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that developed after the tragedy is now in remission.
Nine years after being exposed to the toxins of 9/11, Gerard Vanderberg was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood plasma cells.
‘My sister was a fighter’: Brother of legendary 9/11 ‘Dust Lady’ speaks out after her death from stomach cancer
At the time the hijacked planes crashed, Vanderberg was a relatively healthy 47-year-old bond trader. His office was right across the street from the twin towers.
When he returned to his workplace a few days later to collect the things that had been left behind, he recalled that “white dust” covered much of his office space.
The streets of downtown New York are covered in debris after both World Trade Towers collapsed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York City.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty
“The white stuff was everywhere — in my computer, on my desk, in my books,” Vanderberg said in an interview with Fox News. – Only later did I realize that it was asbestos.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(714x143:716x145)/man-beats-cancer-9-11-1-091323-d292b0125cb8421b874068ec9d70b8ea.jpg)
Dust rose around southern Manhattan moments after the World Trade Center tower collapsed on September 11, 2001 in New York after two planes crashed into the twin towers in a suspected terrorist attack.
Spencer Platt/Getty
In the years that followed, Vanderberg was just happy to be alive, unaware that the white dust he was exposed to during the terrorist attack would turn into a much bigger problem.
“I was in great shape at the time – very athletic, never sick – but all of a sudden things were happening in my body,” he said.
In 2009, Vanderberg developed knee and hip pain. He thought the discomfort was due to playing basketball. Not long after, he discovered he had a plasmacytoma, a plasma cell tumor, outside his right lung.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In August 2010, his doctor ran blood tests and discovered that Vanderberg also had multiple myeloma. That’s when he decided he was going to “fight this as hard as he could,” he told Fox News.
According to Dr. David Siegel, the oncologist who treated Vanderberg after his diagnosis, multiple myeloma is the most common complication that people exposed to Ground Zero have developed since 9/11.
At least 15 men who spent time near the site of the 9/11 attacks have been diagnosed with breast cancer
“There was a significant increase in the risk of myeloma among people who worked at the World Trade Center, as well as among first responders and construction workers who returned to the area after the attack,” Siegel shared with the media.
“I’m going to fight to survive. I could have given up, but I just didn’t,” said Vanderberg, who is now in remission from myeloma.
Two weeks ago, Vanderberg was able to see his son get married.
On Monday, Fox News reported that the number of survivors and first responders who have died from exposure to the toxins since that day has exceeded the number of deaths from those who died in the accidents — approximately 4,343 deaths since 2022, according to the World Trade Center Health Program.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education