Impact Of 9/11 On Society

Thousands of lives were taken. Hundreds of families lost important members. Numerous friends were never heard from again. These are only some of the devastating results that 9/11 had on the citizens of our country. Many people’s lives were changed forever on that horrible day. Not only did the attacks affect the victims and those who were close to them, but the events also impacted a group of people who had no idea it did / would. When we think about the people that 9/11 had an impact on, we often leave out a very important group. This group consists of people who worked and lived in the area surrounding the twin towers. For months following the tragedy, people carried on with their lives. They went to work and lived in their homes, not aware …show more content…
People had no idea that their health would be impacted by the event. For years, my Aunt had no idea that she would become ill with multiple cancers, simply due to working in the financial district of Manhattan after 9/11. She, along with a countless number of other people, worked, visited, lived in and helped respond to the tragedy in the area. The air was contaminated with debris that would go on to cause multiple types of cancers to develop inside of the people who were surrounded by it constantly. According to the World Trade Center Health Program, “emergency responders, recovery and cleanup workers, and volunteers who helped at the World Trade Center… this group is known as Responders… those who were present on the day of the attacks or who worked, lived, or went to school in the New York City disaster area… This group is known as Survivors” (WTCHP). All of these people could have potentially been be impacted by 9/11. The problem that I believe exists today, is that this information is still not reaching some of these victims. Thousands of people still may have no idea that the illness they have come down with are a direct result of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11th. More people are being diagnosed with cancer than those that died on September 11th. So far, there is a total of 6,9188 people diagnosed with cancer that have been linked to 9/11 (WTCHP). However, there are likely thousands more who simply have not yet made the correlation between their illness and their presence in Manhattan at the time. My hopes for this paper is that it will bring more awareness to that fact that many illnesses people have developed may have been caused by the events on September