Toxic dust from the 9/11 cleanup has given some lung problems so serious they can barely speak. They have other health problems too including post-traumatic stress disorder, and their lives will never be the same.
I know two people who helped in the immediate clean-up after 9/11. When asked what it was like they said, in virtually the same words, We saw things no one should ever have to see. One of them was a retired pathologist and had seen any number of grisly corpses during his career. Yet even he was traumatized by what he saw at the 9/11 site.
The two janitors profiled in this article are receiving free medical care and a small workers comp payment. But their health is terrible, and many more like them too.