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After The Dust Settled: Retired NYC Firefighter Remembers 9/11 After Lung Cancer Journey
Ryan McDonald, Associate Editorial Director for CURE®, has been with the team since February 2020 and has previously covered medical news across several specialties prior to joining MJH Life Sciences. He is a graduate of Temple University, where he studied journalism and minored in political science and history. He considers himself a craft beer snob and would like to open a brewery in the future. During his spare time, he can be found rooting for all major Philadelphia sports teams. Follow Ryan on Twitter @RMcDonald11 or email him at rmcdonald@curetoday.com.
Antonia DePace, Editor for CURE®, has covered medical news for MJH Life Sciences, CURE®’s parent company, since 2021. She has written for EatingWell, Natural Awakenings Greater Boston, The Boston Globe and a variety of other lifestyle publications. She attended Emerson College, where she studied journalism and publishing. Antonia enjoys traveling, cooking, yoga and all things health and wellness. Follow her on Instagram @antonialdepace or email her at adepace@curetoday.com
A retired New York City firefighter recalls his return to the city he once served for more than three decades on the day prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and all that followed, including his several bouts with lung cancer years after the dust had settled.
Gerald “Jerry” Sanford dedicated his life to serving the citizens of New York City for more than 30 years — first as a police officer and then as a firefighter.
After 29 years of service as a New York City firefighter — the last nine of which he served in the department’s press office — Sanford retired in 1997. Three years later he and his wife would move to Naples, Florida to live out their retirement years. However, as Sanford recalls, retirement life wasn’t for him. He found a second calling working at the North Naples Fire Control and Rescue District, which coincidentally would lead him down a path to returning to the city he served for more than three decades one day prior to the devastating Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, CURE® spoke with Sanford for this special edition of the “CURE® Talks Cancer” podcast about the antique firefighter helmet that led him back to Ladder 42 in the Bronx on Sept. 10, 2001, the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and why he volunteered to return to his old post in the press office. We also talk with Sanford about his several bouts of lung cancer — which may be attributed to his exposure to the air around ground zero — and what advice he would offer others facing a cancer diagnosis.
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