New Jersey remembers late 'Dust Lady,' Bayonne native Marcy Borders on 14th anniversary of September 11
On the 14th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, New Jersey will remember “Dust Lady” Marcy Borders, the Bayonne native who was caught on camera exiting the World Trade Center’s South Tower coated in a layer of gray dust.
Borders, who was 28 and a Bank of America employee in 2001, died of stomach cancer on Aug. 25. She was 42 years old.
"I'm saying to myself, 'Did (this incident) ignite cancer cells in me?'" she told The Jersey Journal in 2014. "I definitely believe it because I haven't had any illnesses. I don't have high blood pressure ... high cholesterol (or) diabetes."
Fourteen types of cancer, including stomach cancer and other illnesses, are covered by the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, a $4.3 billion investment meant to help with treatment costs for victims exposed to toxic substances on Sept. 11.
Although the New York City Health Department found no substantive link between illness and building debris from a study in 2012, individuals present at the World Trade Center in 2001 displayed health conditions as well.
In September 2014, three former New York City firefighters who responded in 2001 all suffered from cancer and died on the same day. Just one month prior, Borders was diagnosed with stomach cancer.
"Borders's passing is a difficult reminder of the tragedy our city suffered nearly 14 years ago,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “NYC holds her loved ones in our hearts.”
