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Retired NYPD Detective remembers 9/11 response
Jordan Bowen reports.
VENICE, Fla. - A Bay Area social studies teacher was still a rookie New York City police officer when 9/11 happened.
He spent weeks working at Ground Zero. Today, retired NYPD detective Matthew Center is sharing his experiences from that day with his students.
Center doesn't look at 9/11 as a historical event, but rather an ongoing current event. That's because every year he sees first responders—some he knows personally--get diagnosed with 9/11 related diseases. Every day he worries that too could soon happen to him.
Every September 11th, Center is reminded of the pain.
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"I wake up reliving that day and my whole day is kind of in a fog," Center shared.
But he tries his best to remember the patriotism.
Thousands of first responders were diagnosed with cancer after 9/11.
"Nobody cared if there was a D or an R after your name. We were all Americans. We were all united together. That's the stuff, those are the things I want to remember about 9/11," Center explained.
Exactly 22 years ago on Monday was primary day in New York City and Center was assigned to work the polls in Brooklyn when a woman came up to him with a radio and said something had just hit one of the World Trade Centers.
"I went up to the roof of the housing development that I was in. It's like 15 stories. And I could look right across Brooklyn into Manhattan and see the tower burning and then see the second tower get hit," Center said.
Center and his friends who also spent months at Ground Zero worry their health could be impacted decades later. Courtesy: Matthew Center
He spent the next four months at Ground Zero working non-stop. He didn't see a day off until January. According to the World Trade Center Health Program, about 74% of first responders who worked at Ground Zero have been diagnosed with at least one physical or mental health condition including 20% with cancer. His partner–who he worked with side-by-side for months–is one of them and is currently in remission.
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"Dealing with the 9/11 cancer, it's on our minds every day. Knowing that so many people have suffered from it. You know, we're all just kind of waiting to hear who's next or if we're going to be next. It's just it's a daily stressful factor which is part of our lives," Center said.
Center is now a high school social studies teacher in South Florida and said he's touched by the somber remembrance held Monday morning at his high school.
Center is a teacher now and shares his experience as a first responder with his students. Courtesy: Matthew Center
"To be in these schools and see these kids being respectful, you know, and knowing my background and saying, you know, thank you, Mr. Center. It just blows my mind, you know, It really makes me proud of my new home here. Today was probably one of the better 9/11's I've had," Center shared.
According to the CDC, more than 17,000 World Trade Center first responders have been diagnosed with cancer. 1,650 of them have died from the disease. So far, researchers have identified more than 60 types of cancer and about two dozen other conditions that are linked to Ground Zero exposures.
For now, Center is healthy and continues to keep a close eye on this health.