One of the Greats

Thanks Vinny!

Vinny, of the Yankee Stadium Right Field Bleachers Section 39 Vinnys, has joined in our fight to help those becoming ill as a result of the WTC disaster. For Yankee fans, you may remember Vinny from the Ultimate Road Trip Season 1 which airs on the YES Network. Vinny, the quintesential "Bleacher Creature" has a stand outside the stadium where he usually sells his official bleacher creature merchandize, but has set aside some room for our shirts as well. To check out Vinnys stand, go to Stan's across the street from the Bleachers entrance to the Stadium, or look him up online at www.baldvinny.com. Thank you Vinny, its people like you that remind us that those suffering now are not forgotten.


Make sure you visit Vinny!

Students Sick With 9/11-Related Illnesses Want Federal Help

In addition to the emotional trauma they faced after the World Trade Center attacks, students who went to schools in Lower Manhattan say they are also facing respiratory problems, and now they also want the federal government's help.

Current and former students were told it was safe to return to class after September 11th, and they did, exposing themselves to the same toxic air inhaled by first responders. "They were minors during 9/11; they had no options. They were ordered back to school because the EPA said that the air was safe, and they had no ability to say yes or no," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. "And now we're finding out that it may be that some of these children are going to come down with very serious illnesses."

"A major driver of lymphoma is being exposed to excessive amounts of toxins pollutants, which is exactly what we inhaled when we were down here after September 11," said former Stuyvesant High School student Amit Friedlander, who was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. "So I think, whether or not my cancer came from September 11, there definitely will be a lot of people who will be getting sick."

The families are calling on the federal government to provide money for medical screening and health insurance for the students.

NY1's Nicole Johnson filed the following report. Olivia Goodkind is celebrating her birthday but not the typical way a ten- year- old celebrates. She is front and center at a news conference addressing 9/11 health concerns facing students who attended school near the World Trade Center at the time of the attacks. "I really think we should do something,” said Goodkind. “Do something really fast, really soon, because something worse will happen."

Olivia’s worry is that one out of three of her classmates at P.S. 89 carries an inhaler, according to Olivia and her father. "It's like at my school everyone shows them off,” said Goodkind. “It’s like the latest thing, like a style in a way."

This is not a good thing in the eyes of these parents and elected officials. And that is why they are calling on the federal government to provide funding for medical screening and health insurance to help children suffering from 9/11 related illness, similar to what lawmakers want for first responders and Lower Manhattan residents.

"We want to demand that the federal government recognize that there is serious health risk associated with the aftermath of 9/11 especially for our young people," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

Amit Friedlander, a former Stuyvesant High School student, feels like his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma developed after he and other students were told it was safe to return less than a month after the attacks. "I'm mad about being sick,” said Friedlander. “I don't think I have anyone to be mad at other than the terrorists."

But other students and parents are mad at the government, saying they were lied to about the air quality. Their complaints are coming less than a month after lawmakers accused the Environmental Protection Agency and former Director Christine Whitman of the same thing. "Eventually we learned that the school building had not even been cleaned thoroughly as promised,” said Lila Nordstrom, a former Stuyvesant High School student. “Yet to date, no monitoring of out health from 9/11 has ever been done."

Even though Friedlander is not sure his illness is 9/11 related he hopes his story can help others. "I used to never get sick,” said Friedlander. “Once I started to go to college, I was, and still am, sick all the time. And if I had known at the time that it was symptoms of cancer maybe I'd been able to stop it early. I wasn't able but, if other people can, I'd be happy."

Stringer also says he will continue fighting to get the children affected the health care they need. In the meantime, parents are not letting this go by without a struggle. They say in this case the government left their children behind.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=19&aid=63079

9/11 hero battling cancer, money woes

BY NANCY DILLON - DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

He yelled, "We have to get out. Run!" and hustled five junior firefighters out of the north tower moments before the collapse on 9/11, saving them.

Now Roy Chelsen is fighting for his own survival: He's been diagnosed with the same incurable cancer that recently struck an FDNY comrade who also spent weeks digging through the rubble at Ground Zero.

"Nobody will admit it, but I feel I got this from 9/11," Chelsen, 46, said yesterday. "We were there when the towers fell and we sucked all those toxins in."

Yesterday, Chelsen's family organized a blood and bone-marrow donation drive at his Engine 28/Ladder 11 firehouse in the East Village.

"Roy took it upon himself to get his guys out of the building [on 9/11]. It was chaos and he went on instinct," said Robert Salvador, 52, a retired firefighter who turned out to give blood. "I'm really saddened by his illness. He's a great guy. And it makes you wonder what's going to happen to the rest of us," he added.

Chelsen was hospitalized with an infection over the weekend but is still preparing for a stem cell transplant operation Oct. 17. He underwent a procedure yesterday for stem cell harvesting at Westchester Medical Center.

"It's a rare cancer and I'm only 46," Chelsen said. "This usually hits guys in their 60s. "But I'm one of the lucky ones. I made it out [on 9/11]. We lost six guys in our house that day."
Doctors diagnosed Chelsen with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia last Christmas after he lost almost 20 pounds and began suffering joint pain.

The Warwick, N.Y., dad of a 19-year-old son also is battling a related bone marrow cancer, said his wife, Trish, a nurse.

"It's been a very devastating time for us," Trish Chelsen, 44, said. "We're still optimistic Roy is going to beat this and live healthy again. But it's a daily struggle. And we don't feel we're backed up by the authorities in connecting this to 9/11."

Fellow Bravest Lee Ielpi, who lost his firefighter son Jonathan, 29, in the terrorist attack and spent nine months working at The Pile, was diagnosed with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia about four months ago after suffering shortness of breath and swelling in his ankles.

Trish Chelsen said her husband's FDNY drug benefits maxed out in June, even though his prescription for Thalidomide still runs $3,000 a month. She's using her part-time salary to pay $500 a month for extra coverage.

Another blood drive organized in Chelsen's honor is scheduled for Oct. 14 at Zion Lutheran Church on Watchogue Road in Staten Island.

With Jonathan LemireOriginally published on October 3, 2006

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/457945p-385219c.html

9/11 aid urged for Stuy grads

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer joined the call yesterday to get federal health insurance for students who attended Stuyvesant High School in the days after 9/11.

"We went back to school before anyone else," said Lila Nordstrom, who graduated in 2002 from the elite school, located across from Ground Zero on West St.

The air was still smoky and fires burned when the students went back to class. Tons of debris from the site was loaded on barges docked nearby.

"There was no one else down here. It was the police officers and us," Nordstrom said.
First responders have lobbied hard for better health screening and benefits as a result of their work at Ground Zero, but little has been said about the students who attended area schools.
"They had no choice, they were ordered to go back to school," said Stringer (D-Manhattan).
Amit Friedlander, who also graduated from Stuyvesant in 2002, was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He is convinced his illness is directly linked to 9/11.

"I had my doubts [about going back]," said Friedlander. "I wore masks for awhile.
"Everyone who was down here should be very careful and look out for any health abnormalities."

Many of the former students, who are now older than 21, are no longer covered by their parents' health insurance plans.

Nadler said he has introduced a bill that would provide care to everyone who has fallen ill due to 9/11.

Lisa L. Colangelo Originally published on October 2, 2006

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/457492p-385039c.html