9/11 death toll keeps growing decades later as toxic exposure haunts survivors

Those who were present at Ground Zero on , continue to experience the physical effects of their exposure.

As Lower Manhattan was engulfed in dust and debris from the remnants of both towers, first responders and survivors were forced to breathe in toxic air.

More than 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants, physical-injury risks and stressful conditions in the days, weeks and months following the attacks, according to the World Trade Center Health Program.

As of March 2025, 8,215 people who had enrolled in the WTC Health Program had died, including 5,844 responders, as reported by the CDC. The figures include deaths from all causes; the program does not track whether a members death was related to 9/11 exposure.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Mordechai Shedrowitzky, a volunteer EMT who responded on 9/11, shared how his exposure led to multiple hospitalizations and, ultimately, major surgery.

Queens-born Shedrowitzky, 51, was living in Brooklyn at the time of the attacks. After helping cover his local area for much of the day, he headed into Lower Manhattan that evening to assist with the response.

"My most vivid memory was actually from Brooklyn," he said. "As we approached the tunnel, the first thing we noticed was there were no lights, there was no electricity in the area, it [was] pitch black."

"When we entered the tunnel, there was a tremendous amount of swirling debris, at speeds that I just can't even imagine."

Once Shedrowitzky and his team arrived at South Street Seaport, where his ambulance was staged with others, he described the debris as "overwhelming."

"I remember the engine actually sputtering at times," he said. "I would imagine that it was taking in a tremendous amount of dust."

"We were definitely not cognizant of what effect ... the air might have on us. And therefore, we did spend a significant amount of time outside of the ambulances, just commiserating with the people around us."

Shedrowitzky said he "thought it was over" once he left the scene. But years later, he noticed small symptoms that were turning into a big problem.

His pre-existing asthma — which typically flared during seasonal changes and caused coughing that required an inhaler — was worsening each year.

"I started to require ," he said. "I would have wheezing; I would have coughing. It would last longer; it would be more serious ... I wouldn't be able to go to work, wouldnt be able to take care of my kids. So, the effects were definitely increasing over time."

Shedrowitzky added that his condition was "getting to the point where it was leading to frequent respiratory infections and hospitalizations."

"It took a number of years, many years, for us to realize that what was going on with was probably related to 9/11."

In 2019, Shedrowitzky described that his condition got "significantly worse," after experiencing a cough that wouldnt resolve itself, even after the "highest doses" of steroids and antibiotics.

Shedrowitzky ultimately was put in touch with the World Trade Center Health Program – a federal program administered by the CDC – where his condition was classified as 9/11-related and was monitored.

It was eventually confirmed that Shedrowitzky had tracheobronchomalacia, a condition in which the walls of the windpipe and major airways weaken and collapse during breathing.

"[It] was probably secondary to both the asthma getting worse as well as steroid use over the years to try to treat those symptoms," he said.

In 2024, Shedrowitzky underwent a procedure called a tracheobronchoplasty to structurally reinforce his trachea and main bronchi.

Two years after the procedu