The Latest 9/11 Victim

Another police officer has been lost as a result of the 9/11 attack (h/t Dan Norman):

For James Zadroga, dying was as simple as breathing.

The highly decorated New York police detective was heading home from work on Sept. 11, 2001, when the news came across his car radio: A plane had flown into the World Trade Center. He rushed back to lower Manhattan, where the twin 110-story towers had collapsed into a toxic pile of burning rubble.

Zadroga spent 470 hours sifting through the smoldering ruins.

Inhale, exhale.

Twelve-hour shifts, nearly 40 of them.

Inhale, exhale.

More than 28,000 minutes, his only protection a thin, paper mask.

Zadroga barely avoided death when 7 World Trade Center tumbled down around him hours after the planes hit. The escape was temporary: By the time he was finished at ground zero, Zadroga was as much a Sept. 11 victim as anyone lost in the tower stairwells - although his suffering was time-released.

His breathing became labored within weeks, his health deteriorated over months, he was on disability in just over three years. On Jan. 5, 2006, the 34-year-old Zadroga finally succumbed, betrayed by his failing body; the World Trade Center had claimed its latest fatality.

Exhale, one last time.

Read the whole story here.