“The beast” is the term for the cluster headaches Joe McKay has coped with since he spent months clearing the pile of rubble at ground zero.
Jerry CarinoHOLMDEL, N.J. – The oxygen tank sits in the living room of Joe McKay’s home, discreetly positioned in the corner next to a couch. It’s there in case the beast comes for him at night.
Joe McKay is a former New York City firefighter who developed a disabling illness after serving on the cleanup crew at ground zero“It gave me a mission again, helping other people, first responders and people affected by 9/11,” McKay said. “Helping them helped me. I was contributing again. I was doing something. I hated leaving the fire department.”
For the ensuing two weeks, he worked on the pile every day. A few days into the cleanup, he encountered an official from the Environmental Protection Agency who was wearing a “Level A” suit – the most protective gear available. By then, he’d already heard chronic coughing and wheezing from fellow firefighters who had worked on the pile. The first responders were falling ill.In August, John Cassidy convened a special meeting of the Jersey Shore 10-13, an organization of retired members of the New York City Police Department. The guest speaker was Michael Barasch, an attorney and prominent advocate for 9/11 first responders.
This is a subject close to Cassidy’s heart, and not because of his own health. The Point Pleasant Beach resident was working as an evidence collector for the NYPD and close to retirement on 9/11. He helped evacuate the Empire State Building that day, and later worked on the pile “at least a dozen times."But he’s seen the post-9/11 heartache up close. His brother, who worked on the construction crews during the ground zero cleanup, has bone cancer. His NYPD partner died of lung cancer.
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