(The Center Square) – The inaugural U.S. First Responder Ride for Resilience wrapped up Thursday afternoon in Manhattan’s Battery Park, where cyclists completed mile 343 of a five-day route stretching from Boston to Ground Zero.
A couple hundred first responders, cancer survivors and civilian supporters rode in honor of the 343 members of the New York City Fire Department who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and to raise funds for first responders battling cancer and mental health challenges.
Among the participants was FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief and Manhattan Borough Commander John Corcoran, a 40-year veteran who served on 9/11 – though he humbly admitted he joined for only part of the ride. His reason for riding was the same thing that motivates him to go to work each day.
“The idea of helping people. We take this job as firefighters to help people. Definitely not for the pay, and definitely not for the health benefits, because firefighting is a very dangerous job,” Corcoran told The Center Square.
Corcoran and other first responders worked from Sept. 11, 2001, until May 2002 to first find and rescue survivors and then to recover those who had died.
The ride was the third of its kind, though the first in the U.S. and to Ground Zero. Organized by Friends of Firefighters — a nonprofit that provides free mental health services to FDNY firefighters — in partnership with Livestrong and the Boston Fire Cancer Foundation, the first two rides took place in Ireland.
Irish firefighters and the FDNY have a strong bond, according to Livestrong President and CEO Suzanne Stone.
“There is just a really tight Irish brotherhood with the FDNY, and so after 9/11, a lot of Irish firefighters came here to help with the cleanup, and they truly bonded,” Stone told The Center Square. “That’s how the first ride happened in Ireland.”
About 20 Irish firefighters participated in this year’s ride.
Stone was able to join the ride Thursday and recalled a conversation with a first responder she said would “stay with her.” They were talking about some of the notoriously difficult hills earlier in the ride, and Stone was empathizing.
“I was like, ‘That’s really hard,’” she said.
“Yeah, it is,” he said, “But every time I turn a pedal, I think about one step that one of my brothers was taking when he walked up the tower, and if he could walk one more step, I can pedal one more time.”
(The Center Square) – Families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing are gathered alongside survivors and first responders Friday to remember those who were lost.
(The Center Square) – Twenty-five years ago Friday, New York firefighter Stephen Siller ran through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel toward the burning twin towers where he, like so many others that day, would lose his life. Friday morning, his family walked that same route in his honor, completing a four-and-a-half month 9/11 remembrance tour across the U.S.
(The Center Square) - U.S. inflation rose by 0.4% in August for an annual rate of 3.4%, keeping in track with July's data, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Post a comment as Guest
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.