Fox News' Eric Shawn discloses 9/11-related cancer diagnosis

Fox News correspondent Eric Shawn revealed on the air Thursday that he has been diagnosed with cancer linked to exposure to toxic dust from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, joining nearly 48,000 people now enrolled in the World Trade Center health monitoring program reporting related illnesses.

Shawn made the disclosure during a live broadcast from Lower Manhattan on the 24th anniversary of the attacks, saying he has "two different diagnoses under the World Trade Center Program" and that his health problems include respiratory conditions and a cancer diagnosis made this year. "Back then, I remember thinking, maybe in 20, 30 years later I'll get something," he said. "Well, here it is, 24 years."

Shawn, a veteran journalist who covered the aftermath of the attacks at Ground Zero, said his respiratory issues first manifested as bronchitis and later were joined by the cancer diagnosis. He emphasized that exposure to the dust cloud that enveloped Lower Manhattan was not limited to emergency personnel: "If you were below Canal Street, basically, you were exposed to the dust," he said. "I was here reporting on it. That's what happened with me."

The World Trade Center Health Program, a federal initiative that provides medical monitoring and treatment for survivors and first responders, now tracks thousands of patients across multiple states, including those present at the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash sites. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data cited by public reporting shows nearly 10,000 new cancer cases among the affected population in the past year alone, contributing to the figure of about 48,000 people reporting WTC-related illnesses.

Health authorities and researchers have linked dozens of cancer types and other chronic conditions to exposure to the complex mixture of toxins released when the Twin Towers collapsed, including pulverized concrete, asbestos and other known carcinogens. Medical experts and program administrators cite the long latency of many of these illnesses, which can emerge decades after initial exposure, as a key reason cases have continued to rise more than two decades after the attacks.

More than 3,700 first responders who worked at Ground Zero have died since Sept. 11, 2001, including about 2,300 whose deaths have been attributed to cancer-related illnesses. The New York Fire Department has reported the loss of hundreds of members to post-attack health complications. The mounting toll has broadened the human cost of the attacks beyond the 2,977 people killed on the day of the strikes.

Shawn, who disclosed his diagnosis during an appearance on Fox & Friends and during on-site reporting, said he considers himself fortunate compared with others battling more severe conditions and noted that he has lost friends to 9/11-related illnesses. He continued to report on the anniversary and used the broadcast to denounce the ideology behind the attacks. "It is a philosophy that basically hates our principles, our freedoms, what our nation stands for," he said. "That has not diminished — and today, again, we all gather here to remember what was lost."

The revelation highlights the ongoing public-health consequences of the Sept. 11 attacks and the continuing role of the World Trade Center Health Program in monitoring and treating affected populations. Officials have urged those who were in the vicinity of the attacks and who have not enrolled to seek evaluation through the program, which officials say remains a central component of the long-term response to health problems stemming from the 2001 attacks.

Shawn concluded his on-air remarks with a call for unity among those affected: "We're all in this together," he said, underscoring the shared and continuing nature of the health crisis that has unfolded in the decades since the attacks.