The best reporters put their lives on the line to bring the people the truth.
That is the "tragic legacy" for Eric Shawn, a Fox News anchor who developed cancer after reporting on the scene in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.
In an exclusive interview with People on Wednesday, Shawn opened up about the cancer struggle that began after his reporting on that dark day in American history.
“I thought it was gonna hit a skyscraper and my mind was playing tricks on me,” he said about witnessing the 9/11 attack. “You don’t think you really see what you’re seeing,”
Shawn said that he ran to the newsroom and told them to immediately start news coverage. He started reporting at Ground Zero that evening.
“I was there reporting for at least a month, if not longer. We did 12-hour shifts. It was a shocking hellscape,” he said. “It was an overwhelming experience — seeing the photographs and seeing it on television from home certainly does not give justice to what I was confronted with and what we saw. It was just monstrous and momentous.”
“I’ve covered war zones and this was by far the worst traumatic thing that a reporter can experience, just by seeing what I saw that first night,” he continued.
He said that he reported from the scene despite a “thick haze of choking dust.”
“I remember the first night thinking, ‘This is not healthy,’ just on the basis of dust. Not even knowing about carcinogens, not knowing about toxic chemicals,” he said. “And I remember back then thinking, ‘I wonder what’s gonna happen in 20, 30 years from now.’ Well, we’re there now. This is the time period we were concerned about.”
After he developed an "uncontrollable cough," he sought out medical attention.
“I went to the doctor in November and he said, ‘Oh, you’ve got the World Trade Center cough.’ That’s what we called it at the time.” he related. “I thought, ‘I know — it’s a cough from all that dust and smoke. It’ll go away.’ No. The World Trade Center cough actually turned into acute chronic bronchitis…and I suffered from it for years.”
Shawn was given heavy doses of prednisone, and was also diagnosed with GERD: gastroesophageal reflux disease.
“It felt like I had a golf ball in my throat on and off for years,” he remarked.
Then he got the brutal news: He was diagnosed with skin cancer. He was exposed to more than 350 chemical, physical and biological hazards during his reporting.
The report also notes that his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were elevated. His medical testing showed “the highest level of probable” prostate cancer. The report adds that he is "currently in active surveillance" and gets regular testing for the disease every three months.
The Fox News anchor also clarified that his condition is tied to the conditions at the 9/11 scene.
“So, I’m certified for cancer under the World Trade Center Health Program,” he said.
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Shawn opened up about his cancer struggle as a way to show that the fallout from the terrible event still affects people to this day.
“When you think about 9/11, you know about the brave, courageous first responders and the amazing stories of that day,” he said. “But a growing and tragic legacy of that day that people don’t really know about is the vast number of 9/11-related illnesses and growing number of victims that 9/11 will claim.”
“News people are not first responders. I went there because that’s where the story was," he adds. "We’re not the heroes. So a lot of news people, we don’t think of ourselves as being part of the community. But we are."
Then he talks about the brave Americans who lost their lives in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.
“Mike Sheehan, my colleague, passed away from 9/11-related prostate cancer. Steven Edwards was a reporter with the National Post, he passed away from kidney cancer. And if I die from a 9/11-related cancer, I will consider myself having been killed by al-Qaeda," he said. "I don’t think there’s a realization of all the people who are suffering and all the families who have lost loved ones years and now decades after that day."
Now, on this 25th anniversary of 9/11, it is vital that Americans never forget. Judging by the politics of New York City, it turns out this is a real danger.