These are some of the 9/11 first responders who brought Jon Stewart to tears during his impassioned appearance before Congress
They are the people whose plight brought comedian and activist Jon Stewart to tears during an impassioned appearance before Congress this week over funds for other ailing first responders to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
They bear lasting scars from their long hours of work in the pile of destruction that remained after the World Trade Center collapsed nearly 18 years ago. They breathed in noxious air clouded with debris from the fallen buildings after officials assured them it was safe.They have now discovered -- long after the shattered heart of Lower Manhattan was brought back to life -- debilitating illnesses and cancers festering in their bodies.
What this 9/11 responder whispered to Jon Stewart 01:55John Feal and his crew of demolition experts arrived at ground zero the morning after the towers collapsed."What everybody saw we can deal with ... but the smell is everlasting," he recalled this week."If I close my eyes and think about it, I smell it."It still keeps him up at night. "It smelled like the devil," he said."The carnage devastation and destruction.
9/11 responder: Zero tolerance for members of Congress 01:19"Getting them down from where they live in New York or New Jersey, down I-95 and changing their oxygen tanks or going into a rest stop to take their medications. It's a burden on them psychically and mentally. These trips are brutal." More than 2,000 deaths have been attributed to illnesses associated with 9/11, Feal said. He has attended more than 180 funerals. "On average we lose somebody every 2.
Jon Stewart explains why he's frustrated with Congress 02:28"It is a difficult memory, but one that keeps me going," O'Connell said of the haunting sound that plays in his head at night."It reminds me that those men and women who gave their lives that day were selfless, and I try my best to live my life to that standard.
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