(CBS News)
NEW YORK - Right after the Twin Towers fell, fireman Ray Pfeifer arrived with Engine 40. Pfeifer tells CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook he joined the search for his fallen buddies.
"What we saw down there no human should ever have to see," he said.
He worked in a choking dust cloud - a brew of pulverized cement and known carcinogens such as asbestos, benzene, pcbs, and dioxin.
Complete Coverage: 9/11 anniversary
"We're in toxic soup," Pfeifer said. "Who knows what you were breathing in because it was so thick?"
Pfeifer worked on the pile at ground zero for seven months. Nine years later, "The doctor said to me, 'Ray, it's stage 4 cancer.'"
The diagnosis was kidney cancer that had spread to his bones. Doctors removed part of his leg, and hip and a kidney. He's not the only first responder who became ill.
"There are a lot of guys who are sick on this job," Pfeifer said. "A lot of guys, a lot of the guys got cancer."
The Lancet Medical Journal report is the first comprehensive cancer study of New York City Firefighters after 9/11. This federally funded study shows firefighters working at the site had ten percent more cancers than the general public and 19 percent more cancers than firemen not involved. In all, there were 263 cancers among almost nine thousand exposed firefighters...[Full Article]
