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Aiken woman believed 9/11 cleanup caused fatal respiratory disease

9/15/2011

17 Comments

 
Woman believed 9/11 cleanup caused disease
By Bianca Cain 
Staff Writer - The Augusta Chronicle
Friday, Sept. 9, 2011
(view original post on the The Augusta Chronicle)

As Cindy Mahoney laid dying of multiple respiratory illnesses, she begged for an autopsy. The Aiken woman who had never smoked in her life said her volunteerism at ground zero caused her disease, but she wanted to prove it.
New York lawyer David Worby visited just before her death in 2006. When he met her friends he asked one thing: Knowing what she knows now, do you think she would do it again?

“It was like a chorus,” said long­time friend Scotty Nead. “Every­one said ‘yes.’ That’s just the type of person she was.”

Mahoney had been in New York for less than a week on Sept. 11, 2001. The former Belvedere, S.C., EMT had been sent to an Episcopal convent where she was to decide what her ministry would be as a nun.

When news of the first plane crash reached Mahoney, she donned her former EMT uniform and headed toward the nearest hospital to help.

“She told me that the ambulance driver (at the hospital) said that people were dying down there and some of them were first-responders,” Nead recalled 10 years later. “She said ‘That doesn’t matter. I need to go help.’ ”

The ambulance welcomed her onboard and trucked her down to the site.

Months later, Mahoney recounted watching people burn or jump to their deaths with Nead, a then-vicar at St. Augustine Episcopal Church of Aiken.

“She would spend a few moments the best she could because there were so many people to deal with,” he said. “Most of them were talking about their families. It was really heart wrenching for her knowing that these people’s dying breath was to ask her to talk to their families.”

After the first day, she returned to “The Pit” in her nun’s habit. She returned every day for the next five months, blessing human remains and offering pastoral support.

After leaving The Pit in Feb­ruary, Mahoney opted to not continue becoming a nun.

“I think 9/11 took everything out of her. She was just not able to continue,” Nead said.

Mahoney never completely got back on her feet after leaving from New York.

Within a year, she started experiencing trouble breathing. Also during that time, she was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer in Charleston, S.C.

The accident left her disabled. Attempts at obtaining disability were unsuccessful. In 2004, five government officials were contacted about the potential harm she had suffered during 9/11 cleanup, but nothing was ever done.

Eventually she was homeless and sleeping in her car.

“I described her as a saint (at her funeral),” said Nead, who is now retired.

When Worby, a lawyer handling the case for hundreds of first responders like her, met her in Aiken in 2006, she was suffering from asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease and post traumatic stress disorder.

“Her health was gone and it made her somewhat depressed,” Nead recalled. “At the same time, she had the spirit to fight for all the other people who were suffering like she was. She insisted on having an autopsy when she died to show that the effects of 9/11 were still killing people.”

On Nov. 1, 2006, the 54-year-old died of lung failure.

On Jan. 2, 2011, President Obama signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to provide $4.2 billion in compensation to rescue and recovery workers.

“She (Mahoney) personally let me know that there are some rare human beings who will give their lives when called upon at a minute’s notice without regard to their own wellbeing,” Nead said.

17 Comments
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6/18/2012 06:16:57 am

I think it may happened due to 9/11 destruction with a hell lot of harmful partials mixing in with the climate.

Reply
Dr Melanie Barton link
6/18/2012 08:01:06 am

yes, I believe you are right.

Reply
Dr Melanie Barton link
6/19/2012 02:00:27 pm

we had to clean up the mess because it would have just blown around in the air and made more people sick. The workers should have worn special protective suits to protect them from toxins I believe.

Reply
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6/20/2012 12:06:50 am

9/11 caused so much so much destruction that it can't be forgotten nor forgiven.

Reply
Dr Melanie Barton link
6/20/2012 07:25:04 am

Yes, we cannot forget, but if we hold onto the resentment and anger that tragedy caused us it can affect our health. It is better to go forward and try to get the world to want peace instead of more pain and destruction. The hard part is those who see us as the enemy do not want peace. They want us gone. How sad that we cannot get along in this world and not have to have everyone believe like everyone else

Reply
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6/20/2012 05:20:43 am

i have watched this video. it is really heart-touching. 9-11 was unforgettable.

Reply
Dr Melanie Barton link
6/20/2012 07:26:34 am

yes it was unforgettable and Sister Cindy would want us to not forget, but to help those still struggling to get medical benefits due to the exposure of 9/11 toxins. Thanks for reading this. Melanie

Reply
Dr Melanie Barton link
7/16/2012 08:32:08 pm

yes, we want it to be unforgettable so we learn from it and do something to make a difference in our world. We want to learn to get along and not hate or believe that one religion has the right to destroy others who believe differently

Reply
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6/20/2012 10:04:05 pm

9/11 caused lots of disaster in the form of lives, families, faith and health.

Reply
Dr Melanie Barton link
7/16/2012 08:29:57 pm

it did cause a lot of disaster, but it also changed lives for the better and helped people to focus on what is really important. How did it affect you?

Reply
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7/16/2012 04:30:57 pm

Compensation never returns the life of people. If they really want to help the people that give medical treatment free of cost.

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8/30/2012 04:59:11 pm

Your article is obviously very well researched and planned, as well as being written in intelligent terms. Thank you so much for intriguing informational content.

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1/13/2013 04:55:04 am

I am happy to find your distinguished way of writing the post. Now you make it easy for me to understand and implement the concept. Thank you for the post.

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6/6/2013 03:33:21 am

I really appreciate your concern towards the people who are affected on 9/11. Your blog is great.

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Bill Phillips link
7/10/2013 08:43:56 am

Personally, I think that's a no brainer, all that dust would definitely have some long term affects.

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9/16/2013 07:19:12 pm

A state appeals court has ruled that third-party could bear responsibility in automobile accidents.

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12/16/2013 02:11:22 pm

This one helped me for a thesis which I am writing. Thank you for giving me another point of view on this difficult situation. Now I can easily complete my article. Thanks

Reply



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