Robert was a first responder at the World Trade Center disaster. Robert was also a New
York City police detective in the narcotics division. In the course of his career, he
made several hundred arrests, was involved in numerous situations involving guns and
other danger, and yet he was unscathed – never injured. After being at the World Trade Center
for over 3 months, he went back to work. Not too long after that, he became sick. He was
diagnosed with cancer several months later. Robert came to us as part of the World Trade
Center litigation and was seeking help. He was unsure if this was something he should
do - because like many other first responders – he suffered from survivor’s guilt. Survivor’s
guilt is an issue that has plagued many of the first responders because they lost many
of their friends on these particular days, either at the Trade Center or the days after
and yet they walked away for the most part uninjured. But years later, they found themselves
to be ill. Robert came to us not only seeking legal advice but just advice in general about
whether or not he should go forward. Robert, since the World Trade Center disaster, had
3 additional children that he did not have in September of 2001 and was concerned about
his family going down the line and the benefits that were available for them. We were able
to help Robert. Robert spent a lot of time with us, going over the injuries that he had.
Essentially reliving what he saw and what he was a part of during the World Trade Center
disaster. We were able to successfully resolve Robert’s case and are now representing him
in the Zadroga Act itself. Robert is somebody who is a typical first responder. He’s no
different than anybody else that was there. He went and he did his job, he didn’t ask
any questions and yet years later he found himself in a situation that everybody said
was related to the World Trade Center. If you have any questions or you have a situation
similar to Robert’s, please contact me. I would gladly speak to you over the phone
or in person anytime about these issues. I’m Matthew McCauley, thank you so much for watching.
