New York thoracic surgeon: "For many patients 9/11 is not over"

Retired New York City police officer John Aris sat in my office recently waiting for the results of his latest CT scan.

Seven years earlier, I had removed part of his right lung because of cancer. Since then, every follow-up appointment has carried the same anxiety. Before I had even closed the examination room door behind me, I offered the words he had hoped to hear: “No cancer.”

He let out a long breath and settled back into his chair. As always, we lingered and talked about life, politics, and family.

Then I asked him what he thought about something different.

On Friday, during the 25th anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center, organizers will add a new moment of silence. It will honor those who died not on Sept. 11, 2001, but in the years that followed from illnesses linked to their exposure at ground zero.

His smile faded. He stared ahead for a moment before speaking. His voice cracked as he began talking about the people he had lost. Not the people killed when the towers fell, but those who died years later.

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He remembered his friends. Construction workers, firefighters, and police officers, who stood shoulder to shoulder with him for months amid choking dust, burning debris, and twisted steel. He remembered the smell that lingered as they worked.

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