Sick 9/11 Responders Turn to Online Fundraisers After Denials from Victim Compensation Fund and Pension Board
A volunteer firefighter and a retired FDNY EMS captain say claims tied to illnesses from Ground Zero were rejected, leaving them to rely on GoFundMe to cover medical and living expenses.
Two men who say they contracted serious illnesses after responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are appealing denials from the federal Victim Compensation Fund and a New York City pension board while turning to online fundraisers to cover mounting costs.
David Bliss, a 61-year-old volunteer firefighter from Ohio, and Bruce Hydock, a retired FDNY EMS captain, told The New York Post that repeated denials left them scrambling to pay medical bills and daily expenses as they battle cancer and chronic respiratory conditions the men say were caused by their time at Ground Zero.
Bliss said he spent three weeks working at Ground Zero with FDNY Engine 54 in the days after the attacks and that he has since been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and four other cancers since 2020. He said the Victim Compensation Fund has rejected every claim he has filed over the past three years, citing insufficient proof that his illnesses are tied to the World Trade Center site or that he was present at "the Pile." Bliss said he has submitted a photograph showing him at Ground Zero, along with affidavits from family members, friends and witnesses.
"I volunteered to go there, and right now, I’m literally dying. I’m giving my life for it. This is wrong," Bliss said. He added that he launched a GoFundMe to avoid saddling his wife and children with funeral and medical expenses if his claims remain denied. Bliss told the Post he believes being an out-of-state responder may have affected the fund's decisions, a conclusion he described as a personal theory.
The Victim Compensation Fund is overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice. A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment reported by the Post.
Hydock, a retired FDNY EMS captain and two-time cancer survivor, said he was denied a 9/11-related disability pension from the New York City Employees' Retirement System after years of respiratory ailments that surfaced in 2007 and two bouts of testicular cancer. Hydock said he had the World Trade Center Health Organization covering his medical expenses but sought a pension to replace lost income after retiring early in February following a year of medical leave.
Hydock said NYCERS rejected his pension application on the grounds that he "isn't sick enough," and that a policy change requiring rejected retirees to wait a full year to reapply was implemented without his knowledge. He said the denial cost him as much as $60,000 in pension payments for the year, and that he has exhausted savings, sold vehicles and moved in with in-laws while fundraising online.
NYCERS declined to comment on Hydock’s specific case, citing confidentiality. Hydock and other former EMS workers told the Post the pension process differs from that used by FDNY and NYPD retirees and that the issue is affecting a larger group of emergency medical personnel who responded after the attacks.
Both men said they pursued appeals and submitted additional documentation. Bliss said the fund’s repeated denials have persisted despite photographic and witness evidence of his presence at the site. Hydock said he feared recurrent cancer and the financial and emotional toll of continued health monitoring and treatment.
Advocates and some former responders have long warned that survivors and responders face bureaucratic hurdles when seeking compensation and disability benefits tied to 9/11 exposures. The Victim Compensation Fund was created in the aftermath of the attacks to provide payments to people diagnosed with certain conditions linked to exposures at the World Trade Center site; it has been reauthorized and adjusted over the years as research and diagnoses have evolved.
Officials overseeing federal and municipal programs generally require documentation tying a claimant's presence at the site and medical evidence linking illnesses to 9/11-related exposures. Denials often cite a lack of documentation or inconsistencies in applications, according to public statements from the programs in prior years. The Post article said some claimants believe limited funds and administrative rules are constraining approvals.
Bliss and Hydock join a number of other responders and survivors who have publicized struggles to obtain compensation, and both said they had little appetite for public attention but felt compelled to seek help. The men’s fundraisers remain active as their appeals proceed.
The New York Post reported the interviews and fundraising campaigns. The Department of Justice and NYCERS did not provide immediate responses to the Post's requests for comment on individual cases, the Post said. The fundraising pages linked in the Post’s report describe medical and financial needs tied to long-term illnesses the men and other 9/11 responders attribute to their work at Ground Zero.