Robert Suarez was 24 years old when he and his father were both called to help at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks, working at different fire departments that answered the call within hours of the towers falling. More than two decades later, Suarez's father is battling brain cancer he believes is connected to that response, according to WSVN 7News.
As reported by WSVN 7News, 72 local firefighters were called to help in New York City after the attacks, part of a wave of South Florida crews that rushed north as the scale of the disaster became clear. Suarez lost contact with his father for days after the response began, not knowing where he was or whether he was safe amid the chaos at Ground Zero, the station reports. The two eventually found each other at a cafe feeding responders outside the rubble pile in New York City, a reunion captured on a disposable camera that became the first photograph of their meeting there.
Suarez said they were able to bring one first responder out intact during the operation, and he described pulling other first responders from the rubble at the World Trade Center site himself. He would go on to become a firefighter at City of Miami Fire Rescue, a career he has called both a career and a blessing, saying getting hired is a career and a blessing if you're able to do it, per WSVN 7News. He continues to serve as a firefighter today.
A Father's Cancer Battle Tied to Ground Zero
Suarez's father has been fighting brain cancer since 2023, and he believes the illness is linked to his response at the World Trade Center, according to his son's account relayed to the station. He still keeps the radiation mask he used during that deployment, a physical reminder of the toxic environment first responders worked in following the towers' collapse. His medical bills are covered by the World Trade Center Health Program, the federally managed system built to support responders and survivors decades after their exposure.
That program now covers more than 145,000 responders and survivors nationwide, and federal data shows over 67 percent of enrollees have been certified for at least one 9/11-related physical or mental health condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 57,000 cancer cases have been documented, per statistics reported by Northwell Health, which notes that toxic particulates at Ground Zero contained 150 chemicals.
Brain Cancer's Path Into Federal Coverage
A final rule related to cancer coverage was issued in February 2014 under the World Trade Center Health Program. Federal program data provides statistics on health conditions among program enrollees, the CDC reports.
The scale of the illness has only grown. Northwell reports that more than 9,000 people have died, more than triple the 2,977 people killed on the day of the attacks. By August 2026, total cancer cases among downtown Manhattan survivors had surpassed the number certified among emergency responders for the first time in program history, according to the World Trade Center Health Program, illustrating how the health fallout of 9/11 expanded well beyond the first responders who worked the pile.
South Florida's Role at Ground Zero
Suarez and his father worked at different fire departments on September 11, 2001, but both were part of South Florida's broader response effort. City of Miami Fire Rescue's Florida Task Force 2 was placed on alert that day and deployed a 62-member search-and-rescue team to New York City via a 26-hour ground convoy after air travel was grounded, according to Florida Task Force 2. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Florida Task Force 1 also deployed specialized urban search and rescue personnel directly to Ground Zero immediately following the towers' collapse, as reported by CBS Miami.
The World Trade Center Health Program was created through the 2010 James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and established in 2011. The program continues to provide support for first responders facing illnesses after Ground Zero, including Suarez's father.
Remembering the Fallen at Home
City of Miami Fire Rescue maintains a memorial incorporating a steel beam salvaged from the World Trade Center, honoring fallen first responders and keeping alive the department's annual pledge to never forget September 11. The department continues that promise every year, including this anniversary. For Suarez, who hopes to make his father, his city, and his country proud, the memorial and his own decades of service stand as a continuation of the bond forged at that New York cafe in 2001.
