Niels Jorgensen: A New York City firefighter for over 21 years who responded to Ground Zero on 9/11 and was forced to retire after contracting a rare leukemia from the cleanup. He now hosts the limited podcast series '20 for 20' honoring 9/11 heroes.
What this episode covers
Niels Jorgensen recounts the morning of September 11, 2001, from hearing the first plane on the radio to racing to his firehouse and digging through the pile at Ground Zero. He describes losing childhood friends and colleagues, the failures of inadequate equipment and communications, and the years-long fight to get first responders' medical bills covered. Years after the attacks he developed an extremely rare leukemia, enduring brutal compressed chemotherapy and a near-death experience. Throughout, he returns to themes of selflessness, empathy, faith, brotherhood, and the unity of '9/12,' urging Americans to care for veterans and first responders.
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Rescue Me
FX
“like i when i worked on rescue me right yeah i love those people so much they were such great we had such a great crew”— guest
Blue Bloods
CBS
“he's a very very popular actor in hollywood he's on rescue me blue bloods gossip girls”— guest
Gossip Girl
The CW
“he's a very very popular actor in hollywood he's on rescue me blue bloods gossip girls”— guest
Brothers in Arms
Dire Straits
“mentioning brothers in arms by dire straits and saying we're all brothers in arms even when it's on the opposite side of fighting”— Lex Fridman
Scott Air-Pak (SCBA)
Scott Safety
“you could hear the alarms on the on the scott air mask the packs we wear to go into the building it has a motion alarm”— guest
Big reveals from this episode
- He nearly drove straight into Manhattan but followed his wife and his father's advice to report to the firehouse first, a decision he credits with shaping his survival.
- His lieutenant Dennis Oberg survived by diving under a fire truck, while men 40 feet behind him, including his childhood best friend John Schardt, were buried.
- He reveals a 1994 FDNY training manual showed the towers with a target labeling another attack 'not a matter of if but when.'
- An older firefighter told him that night 'we're all dead men,' a grim prophecy as colleagues later died of rare cancers.
- Doctors dismissed his engorged spleen as alcohol abuse; he was actually within 48 hours of death from undiagnosed leukemia.
- His chemo was so caustic the nurse wore a hazmat suit and the IV tube smoked and burned when the drug spilled on it.
- He rejects 9/11 conspiracy theories, explaining the fire and jet fuel exceeded the temperature needed for the steel to fail.
- He reframes his cancer as a gift, saying it lets him be a voice and shield for other patients who cannot speak.
Worth remembering
- He worked three jobs as a firefighter because NYC first responders are paid too little to live in the city.
- Off-duty firefighter Stephen Siller strapped on 60 pounds of gear and ran 2.5 miles through the blocked Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to reach the towers.
- The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has raised over $250 million and builds mortgage-free smart homes for wounded warriors and first responders.
- He was the seventh rescuer in six months to contract the rarest leukemia, with only about 500 cases a year in all of North America.
- On average one 9/11 responder or recovery worker dies each day, and two are diagnosed with a 9/11 cancer or disease daily.
- Jon Stewart, Ray Pfeifer, and detective Luis Alvarez helped shame Congress into covering responders' medical bills.
- Ray Pfeifer carried a stack of roughly 100 laminated funeral cards from fellow responders' funerals.
- After surviving, Niels tipped a rest-stop bathroom attendant $10 and now says he prays to become a billionaire only so he can give it all away.
- He developed a friendship with billionaire David Koch after sending a handwritten thank-you letter for funding cancer research that saved his life.
- One survivor, Coptic engineer Mark Hannah, carried an 89-year-old man down 78 flights and later became a priest.