9/11 worker uses billboards to ask for medical help

WEST MILFORD, N.J. — A New Jersey man who spent three weeks looking for survivors in the days after the 9/11 attacks is using billboards in a push to have his kidney disease added to the list of covered conditions by a fund to help Ground Zero workers with health problems.

Mike Megna has a rare kidney disease he believes was caused by dust from the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center towers.

The 44-year-old West Milford resident has rented two billboards in New Jersey near New York City that plead, “Add Kidney Disease for 9/11 Rescue Workers!” The signs include Megna’s name and picture.

A spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which administers the fund, said there’s not enough evidence yet to connect the condition to Ground Zero.