Firefighter Robert Alexander died of World Trade Center-related brain cancer at the age of 43, a year after his father, Lt. Raymond Alexander died of a combination of seven different cancers caused by his work at the World Trade Center. They are the first FDNY father and son to die of site-related illness, reports Thomas Tracy of the New York Daily News. FDNY Firefighter Joseph Angelini Sr., 63, and his son, Joseph Angelini Jr., 38, were killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The younger Alexander was a police officer with the NYPD on September 11, 2001 and worked at the Trade Center in that capacity. In 2002, he joined the FDNY, working on FDNY fireboats.
He was instrumental in the renewal of the Zadroga Act after Congress allowed the 9/11 healthcare act to lapse. Alexander and many other sick recovery workers made many trips to Washington, pleading for coverage to be reinstated. After a long fight, the Zadroga Act was renewed for 75 years.
FF Alexander was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer in 2014.
