Editor’s Note: We are saddened to report that Lt. Nerney died in 2015. This story was originally posted on Sept. 11, 2014.

DENVER — This week, the world will remember the 13th anniversary of the events of 9/11, but for Steamboat Springs, Colorado, resident Kevin Nerney, 56, the attacks are “a daily memory.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, Lt. Nerney was settling into a new life in Steamboat Springs, having just retired two weeks earlier from the New York City Fire Department. He watched as the Twin Towers crumbled, knowing that his crew would most likely be on the ground.

He found out later that all the men from his fire station on duty that day died, including his best friend. He took the first available plane back to New York to help with the search-and-cleanup efforts.

“It was a horror show,” he said, recalling the 10 days he spent at Ground Zero.

At one point, he called his wife, Kathy, and told her, “Kath, there’s nothing down here but dust.”

In June, Nerney learned he has a form of brain cancer, stage-four glioblastoma, which is among the cancers tied to the toxic Ground Zero cleanup area. He immediately underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy and is getting ready to start another series of chemo. His medical bills have topped $640,000.

Because he worked as a volunteer at Ground Zero, Nerney was initially told he’s ineligible for financial assistance from the World Trade Center Health Program, which was established as part of the 2010 Zadroga Act to respond to the health crisis involving workers at Ground Zero.

John Feal, founder of the Feal Good Foundation, which was instrumental in getting the Zadroga Act and two related bills passed, said Nerney was wrongly denied but must act quickly to meet an upcoming deadline.

“They need to file before Oct. 12,” he said by phone from his Nesconset, New York, office. “He is eligible.”

Some 2,800 people have been diagnosed with 9/11-related cancer, Feal said, adding that the number is expected to grow, as cancer can take years to appear. More than 30,000 responders have been certified as having a 9/11-related illness or injury, according to the World Trade Center Program.

“Since 9/11, we’ve lost over 16,000 people to a variety of 9/11-related illnesses or injuries,” said Feal, himself a first responder who was injured during the cleanup. 

On Sept. 8, New York lawmakers called on Congress to renew the Zadroga Act and extend it for 25 more years. The medical treatment and compensation components of the act are set to expire in 2015 and 2016.

“We have an uphill battle,” Feal said about the legislation, which is expected to be introduced later this month.

 

Ground Zero Fallout

Todd O’Brien, 57, is a retired fireman who fought fires with Kevin Nerney and worked alongside him at Ground Zero. O’Brien, who is now cancer free, came down with prostate cancer, and his lungs now only work at slightly more than half capacity. Both of his medical issues are tied to 9/11 cleanup efforts. Because he was a working firefighter during the cleanup, he has received compensation for his medical treatment.

“I was there 10 minutes after the second tower went and stayed two months,” O’Brien said by phone from Lindenhurst, New York. “There was so much dust down there, my lungs are shot. What we’re going to see is more and more men who were there are going to be getting sick and dying.”

Another of Nerney’s fellow firefighters who helped at Ground Zero and is now retired, Bruce DelGiorno, 56, has 9/11-related asthma, sinusitus and was treated for a pre-cancer thyroid tumor.

“I’m doing all right,” he said from his home in New Hyde Park, New York. “I’m very lucky.”

Three days before 9/11, DelGiorno and another New York firefighter, Capt. Emilio Longo, were in Steamboat Springs helping Nerney build his retirement home. Longo later died of 9/11-attributed lymphoma.

“It’s a tragedy,” DelGiorno said, adding that, on 9/11, he’ll attend a memorial service; and later this month, he’ll attend a Mass and plaque dedication in Long Island honoring Longo.

Meanwhile, Kathy Nerney, a former teacher who retired to help care for her husband, is working through stacks of paperwork to get Kevin’s medical claims accepted. And his treatment costs continue to mount.

“It’s a lot of hoops you have to jump through,” she said. “There’s a lot of phone calls, a lot of hurry up and wait.” To help Nerney, Holy Name Church, where Kevin and Kathy are parishioners — their two children, Joseph and Marykate, are grown and have both served in the military — has established the Kevin Nerney Fund.

“People are so compassionate,” Kathy Nerney said, expressing gratitude.

Although her husband’s speech is a bit slurred at times and his thought process can be fuzzy, the cancer hasn’t slowed him down. He is grand knight of his parish’s Knights of Columbus Council and a member of the men’s Beer and Bible group.

“I think he has missed one Knights’ meeting; that’s it,” Kathy Nerney said. “He still goes to Beer and Bible every Tuesday, and if he can’t go, they come here. Last week, he made chili for them. He keeps truckin’ along.”

 

Painful Memories

On Sept. 11, he’ll attend a memorial service and pray for his fallen comrades.

“For guys like us, it’s a daily memory,” he said. “It feels like yesterday, not 13 years ago.”

O’Brien shared a similar sentiment.

“I’ll be sitting in the house crying, like I do every 9/11,” he said. “It’s not a good day for me.”