9/11 A Decade Later: Retired NYPD Detective Shares Story Of 9/11 Health Struggle

By: Ruschell Boone

To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

As the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would authorize billions for first responders and volunteers sickened by the September 11th attacks, a former NYPD officer explains why he thinks the Zadroga Bill should be passed. NY1's Ruschell Boone field the following report.

Vito Friscia doesn’t like to talk about September 11th. The now retired New York City Police Department homicide detective responded that day and spent several months after the terror attacks at the World Trade Center site and at the Fresh Kills landfill. He calls the recovery effort the toughest time in his life.

“We were sifting through all kinds of stuff just to give people closure. Whatever we could find -- weapons, credit cards, keys, anything that we could ID that person is there so we could close out that part of the case," Friscia said.

Friscia says most officers don’t like to talk about the attacks, but he agreed to recall his experiences in a documentary, "Vito After." The film, which documented his life for over two years, gives an intimate look at how Friscia and his coworkers continue to deal with September 11th-related health ailments.

"We knew we were going to get sick. We knew it," Friscia said. "When you breathe in that stuff the first time, when you sucked it in, hours later I was feeling, I was coughing and I was still coughing. And a week later I was sick as a dog, then I lost my voice completely."

Friscia hopes the film will bring more attention to the importance of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which would guarantee healthcare and compensation for sick first responders. Friscia suffers from chronic sinus infections, decreased lung capacity and anxiety.

"It's tough for me to breathe," Friscia said. "In the night when I lie down and I can't breathe like that I get anxiety. I can’t run the way I used to run. I can't run with my daughter. I can't run with my son. I used to run, I was in great shape."

Friscia is one of over 20,000 ill workers and volunteers who participated in rescue and recovery efforts. Like Friscia, many are hoping the Senate will vote on the $7 billion Zadroga Bill before the end of the year. While Friscia's ailments may seem minor today, he is not sure what the future will hold.

"I could get very sick. I don't know," Friscia said. "I have friends who just were diagnosed with cancer and it's a tough thing. And I'm going to be 45 years old. When I'm 50, when I'm 55 I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know. I just hope they take care of us."