Documentary I Watched

I watched a documentary the other day about 9/11. It focused on police officers and firefighters who survived, and it included footage I had never seen before—which surprised me, because I thought I had seen just about everything over the years.

But what really stuck with me wasn’t just the footage—it was the facts.

As of December 2023, 6,781 people have died from illnesses or cancers linked to their time at or near Ground Zero. That’s more than twice the number of people who were killed on 9/11 itself.

And by September 2024, more than 360 firefighters have died from World Trade Center-related illnesses… compared to the 343 firefighters who lost their lives that day.

That honestly shocked me.

We often think of 9/11 as something that happened in the past—one terrible day in history. But the truth is, it’s still taking lives. It didn’t end when the dust settled. For so many first responders and their families, it never really ended at all.

It made me realize how much those men and women gave—not just in that moment, but in the years that followed. The cost of that day is still being paid, even now.