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THE DUST-COVERED 9/11 survivor whose photo became an iconic image of the World Trade Centre attacks has died of cancer, aged 42.
The former Bank of America worker was dubbed the “Dust Lady” after a photographer snapped the photo of her looking shaken and covered with ash after fleeing the doomed buildings.
Sky News reports that Marcy Borders claimed the cancer diagnosis was as a result of inhaling toxic air from the attack.
“I definitely believe it because I haven’t had any illnesses,” she had told NJ.com. “I don’t have high blood pressure … high cholesterol (or) diabetes.”
Marcy Borders, from New Jersey, had just started her new job when the plane struck the the north tower where she worked.
Despite her boss telling her to stay at her desk, she fled from the building.
As the north tower collapsed, a stranger pulled her into a building lobby. This is when the photographer captured the shot that has since been published around the world.
“My mom fought an amazing battle,” Noelle Borders told The New York Post.
Not only is she the ‘Dust Lady’ but she is my hero and she will forever live through me.
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RIP – As of August 2013, medical authorities concluded that 1,140 people who worked, lived, or studied in Lower Manhattan at the time of the attack have been diagnosed with cancer as a result of exposure to toxins at Ground Zero. Over 1,400 9/11 rescue workers who responded to the scene in the days and months after the attacks have since died. Eleven unborn babies also died on 9/11.
Donna Summer felt the ash from 9/11 was the blame for her cancer as well, a lot firemen were also diagnosed as well so there might be a link
There was a lot of abestos released. There is a direct correlation between cancer and abestos. There is nothing glorious or honourable about terrorism
Cholly is spot-on, the Twin Towers were originally built with asbestos insulation which was due to be replaced because of it’s carcinogenic properties. A massive amount of asbestos was released into the air when the Twin Towers collapsed.
Except asbestos takes 40+ years to affect people.
try getting a dose of it direct to the lungs jane like these people were exposed too.
Jane. . research it again. Most cases have a incubation period of 12 to 20 yrs. can take up to 40
That’s 40 years at most with standard exposure and deterioration over time. Try skyscrapers worth released over a short space of time in a built up area with the shelter of other large buildings to see the impact this has.
This is so sad. Poor woman. Rest in Peace.
Terrible tragedy Still people suffering long after. Rip.
What kind of an A hole was her boss to tell her stay at her desk.
A lot of people were told to stay at their desks that morning, people did not realise the scale of the disaster from inside the building, even the firefighters in the north tower did not realise immediately that the south tower was collapsing.
I worked on the 39th floor of a building after 9/11 and we used to regularly get told (by our safety officer who was a former fire chief) that if the fire alarm goes you go down a few floors (to the nearest “safe” floor (it was like every 4th floor allowed access from the stairwell)) and wait for instructions and to not leave the building until instructed to do so. There logic was you don’t know what’s happening outside and it could be more dangerous than what’s heppening inside.
But during the blackout of 2003 you could really see the aftereffects on people psyche as no one who had been involved in 9/11 (not me, I arrived 2002 but all my office had been caught in the dust cloud as their previous offive was across the street from the twin towers) evacuated immediately and left the building. Their rational being “they told people to stay during 9/11 too and people died because of it”. No WAY they were waiting, And they were scared, because we’d no idea it was just a blackout (or why it had happened.
From The Guardian:
“Borders’ life spiralled downward after that fateful moment in 2001. She battled severe depression and became addicted to crack cocaine. “I didn’t do a day’s work in nearly 10 years, and by 2011 I was a complete mess,” she said. “I was convinced Osama Bin Laden was planning more attacks. Every time I saw an aircraft, I panicked. If I saw a man on a building, I was convinced he was going to shoot me.”
After losing custody of her two children, Borders checked into rehab in April 2011 and remained sober. She announced that she’d been diagnosed with stomach cancer and had undergone chemotherapy last summer. ”
There have absolutely been many people involved in the clean up around Ground Zero who have suffered hugely from the effects of what they were doing but one exposure and then 10 years of hard living? I can’t help thinking it’s far more likely the events from 2001 – 2011 were more likely the catalyst for her stomach cancer then getting caught in the dust cloud.
But her downward spiral during those years was caused by the events she experienced on 9/11, hence, the root cause is still the attacks no matter which way you look at it.
So she was traumatised by her experience on 9-11, leading to her life spiralling downward to an early grave.
Whichever explanation you go with, 9-11 remains a causative factor then, no?
I wasn’t disputing that.
I was disputing her convinced assertion that being covered in dust that day was what triggered her cancer and her ability to ignore the fact that she’d also done some serious damage herself to her body through her choices after the event
So you are saying then that it was more likely cocaine and alcohol that caused her cancer, rather than the asbestos in the dust she had inhaled (and probably ingested too) that day?
My point is and remains that her own fervant belief that it was the dust allows her to ignore everything that followed. When, the truth is, had she NOT been caught in the cloud would we be so quick to disregard her lifestyle choices. Choices that, we know, often result in a cancer diagnosis.
In defence of Tricia, she is quite correct. Dust inhalation leads to a specific set of symptoms, collectively known as dust diseases. Asbestos specifically causes one particular rare lung cancer, NOT stomach cancer – which is strongly associated with consistent high alcohol intake.
We can only speculate because her medical record is none of our busineds but I dig Tricia’s point of view here. In my youth, several men in the surrounding areas succumbed to cancers having worked for decades in a local but now dismantled fertiliser plant, inhaling dust & toxins that sadly caused these illnesses later in life. But it took decades, a lot of these men were in their 70s before they died. I don’t want to undermine what she went through on 9/11 or deride any lives lost in it, but she was in a dust cloud for one morning. Not withstanding what you inhale does not end up in your stomach. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume a history of alcohol abuse was probably more a contributory factor than dust on 9/11. In any event, it’s the same result in the end and I hope she is at rest.
Poor woman.
So sad 42 is no age. RIP.
Ash to ash, Dust to dust, Fade to black.
The memory remaaaaaaaaains.
Not funny, on your death bed see yourself for who you are before you worry about divine judgement…
What the hell is wrong with u .. U disrespectful p*ick!
As in The Memory Remains, so let’s not forget her by quoting an epic song. You fu©k|ng ®et@rd. Along with the other absolute ©üntz who red thummed my comment.
The alcohol and crack cocaine are the more likely cause of her cancer
Read more comprehensive coverage in UK papers which detail how her life spiralled out of control after the attacks resulting on her turning to alcohol and drugs
So definitely not the asbestos dust?
Cancer doesn’t need a reason or catalyst, all it needs is a victim.
Asbestos dust can cause cancer- takes 40 years though.
Jane I’m not sure where you’re getting this figure from. The latency period has been typically given as 12-20 years after exposure, and can affect people up to 40 year after. In other words most people exposed to toxic levels in 9/11 would begin to exhibit signs of illness between 2013-2021 with outliers being affected up to the year 2041.
Asbestos is cancer causing.
A lot of experts here I see! Sure ur know it all!!
Ye
No
this 18 second video clip puts everything into perspective.
You are a nut case.
did you not watch the video? its pretty self explanatory.
Time will tell who the nut cases actually are, “Morgan”.
Family members of the dead who have not received any evidence or proof on the governments explanation and over 2,200 of the TOP Sky scraper architects and engineers including scientists who say that the governments explanations is not scientifically possible and deserves an independent investigation. It is of course not forthcoming.
http://therundownlive.com/world-trade-center-building-7-911-conspiracy-dummies-educate/
Asbestos is lethal…
have your say