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Significant Help Reportedly On The Way For Those Who Got Sick After 9/11

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The 11th anniversary of 9/11 is just two days away, and now help may finally be on the way for those who got sick after the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Cancer being covered by the Zadroga Act was approved in June, but was then held up. But the federal government will announce that about 50 types of cancer will be added to the 9/11 compensation list, the New York Post reported, and that the funds will finally be distributed.

1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports 

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9/11 first responder advocate John Feal said that if indeed dozens of forms of cancer join the list of covered illnesses, the credit goes to Dr. John Howard, who he said investigated the link between Ground Zero toxins and cancer.

"Adding cancer to the bill after three years, we're ahead of the curve," Feal told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck. "Normally cancer studies take 10, 15, 20, 30 years. Dr. Howard, when he adds cancer to the bill, it's way ahead of the curve. After three years? That's outstanding, that's monumental. And it's going to help thousands of men and women (in) uniform and non-uniform."

Though this would be a major victory for hundreds of 9/11-related families, Feal said that the fight is just beginning.

"We have to go back to Congress in the Fall and ask them to keep the bill open for more than five years," Feal said. "We want a 20-year bill. Hypothetically, if somebody gets compensated in year three for their cancer, what happens to a different person who gets the same cancer in year nine and they don't? It's unjust, and we have to continue to work together as a unified group of people who are sick and dying."

Feal, who is a firefighter, said that the addition to the Zadroga Act is too late for hundreds who have already died after being exposed at Ground Zero.

Could be a life-changing announcement for those who got sick after the attacks. Sound off with your thoughts and comments below...

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