A Ground Zero volunteer who later developed lung cancer is making a documentary about the long-term health problems faced by people who helped clear the World Trade Centre site after the September 11 attacks.
Craig Sotkovsky was in Jersey City, New Jersey, when he saw one of the towers burning on 11 September 2001. With a background in construction, he travelled to the site and spent two days operating a bobcat and working in a bucket brigade clearing debris.
He has described the scene as a nightmare, saying the scale of the destruction was beyond anything people should have had to witness.
Sotkovsky says his health began to deteriorate in 2012. After years of respiratory problems, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017, aged 52, and attributes the illness to toxic exposure at Ground Zero.
“It’s been an event in my life I want people to be aware of because there are people 25 years later getting diagnosed with exotic cancers,” he said. “There are thousands of people like me in this situation.”
As the 25th anniversary of the attacks approaches, Sotkovsky says independent volunteers who were not attached to a company, emergency service or organised group have been overlooked.
“I’m spreading awareness because the caption phrase is ‘never forget’, but they forgot about all the volunteers because I wasn’t associated with a company or any kind of organisation,” he said.
He is enrolled in the World Trade Centre Health Programme, which provides medical monitoring, cancer screening and treatment for eligible responders and survivors. The programme, administered by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says it now serves nearly 150,000 members across the United States and its territories. ([cdc.gov](https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/exhibition/world-trade-center-health-program.html))
Sotkovsky says he could no longer afford to continue using the programme and now receives healthcare in Mexico. It is not clear how many unaffiliated volunteers are facing serious illness without financial support, or what additional resources may be available to them.
He is now preparing a film documenting the experiences of people still living with severe health conditions linked to their time at the World Trade Centre site. He plans to return to New York in the coming weeks to record interviews, revisit Ground Zero and draw attention to the volunteers he believes have been forgotten.
