September 11th 2001 Fireman in NEED!

Jason, my husband of 23 years, was a fireman at 9/11. He was there only one hour after the second tower fell and remained for over a week, despite the lack of adequate PPE and him being in “The Pile”. Why? Because he wanted to help. Now HE needs help.

He had a very intensive surgery May 21st 2025. We have no one but each other. No family to go to for help or friends. But this surgery had to get done or he risked going blind. He has almost no sinus cavity on one side, which is called “silent sinus”, something many 9/11 first responders are only now being treated for, something not many are publicly aware of. The toxic fumes at Ground Zero ate away his sinus and he had to have cadaver bone and cartilage to reconstruct it. Not only that, but he also has severe emphysema from being there as well as nodules on his lungs and the trauma he experienced that day, which was compartmentalized has come crashing to the surface so he now suffers from PTSD and anxiety.

The surgery was supposed to be six hours and became ten due to the severe damage. On top of that, he then developed an infection from the surgery. We’re not only facing these medical issues but due to Jason being out of work and me being disabled since age eleven, we’ve gone through our entire life savings (meant to buy a home with) and we’re facing eviction, scraping pennies together to buy gas.

Jason has worked since he’s twelve years old to buy his own clothes and food, then got into the HVAC trade at age twenty. He is the person who gets your heat running at 2am on a cold winter’s night or your AC on a stifling summer’s. Why did he choose this profession? Because once again, he wanted to help people/the community.

He finally got into the World Trade Center Health Organization but they’re saying he may not qualify for any compensation because his lung capacity is at 70% and it needs to be at 69.9%—it was at 68% without albuterol but they only count the reading with the albuterol.

Quite frankly, it’s embarrassing asking for help at all. My husband’s worked for everything he’s/we’ve ever had and has never asked for a handout. But any help you have to offer would be greatly appreciated. Even a dollar goes a long way.

Much gratitude and thanks,

Shannon and Jason❤️