Duty Death: Jeffrey Cicora, Raymond Harris, Christopher Cranston, Robert Jones
By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK – Multiple officers have passed away in recent months due to health complications that were a direct result of responding to the 9/11 terror attacks.
Sergeant Jeffrey Cicora, 54, died August 10. Police Officer Raymond Harris, 52, died August 4. Lieutenant Robert Jones, 55, passed away June 15. Detective Christopher Cranston, 48, died July 20.
According to ODMP, three of the LEOs died from cancer developed as a result of responding to Ground Zero. Jones died from complications of surgery required to treat an illness he developed during his work at Ground Zero.
The deaths come during a summer of renewed attention on the ongoing health struggles of many first responders who bravely assisted in the search and recovery efforts in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. Detective Luis Alvarez, one of the faces of the push for Congress to permanently extend the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund, appeared before Congress alongside comedian Jon Stewart and many other first responders in a powerful rebuke of the politicians’ inaction. Alvarez died shortly after the visit, which garnered national attention.
President Donald Trump signed a permanent extension of the fund not long after.