Luis Alvarez, a retired detective from the NYPD’s Bomb Squad, spoke eloquently for the reauthorization and funding of the 9/11 VCF recently, describing the 68 rounds of chemotherapy he has endured for site-related colorectal cancer. He has just undergone round 69, reports Jason Duaine Hahn for People.
Detective Alvarez is 53 and has battled World Trade Center-related cancer for three years. He told Congress, “I have been to many places in this world and done many things, but I can tell you that I did not want to be anywhere else but ground zero when I was there. Now the 9/11 illnesses have taken many of us, and we are all worried about our children, our spouses and our families and what happens if we are not here.”
“I should not be here with you, but you made me come, [but] I will not stand by as my friends with cancer from 9/11, like me, are valued less than anyone else.”
