Fallen Finest
B’klyn cop dies from 9/11 cancer, fam says
AN NYPD COP in Brooklyn died from what his family members suspect was 9/11-related cancer.
Dave Guevara, a Brooklyn native who served almost 23 years as one of New York’s Finest, went into a hospital two weeks ago for what he thought was pneumonia, his widow Lakisha Guevara, 43, told the Daily News.
Doctors found a large mass on his lungs and he died on Friday from kidney failure. He was 45.
The 70th Precinct tweeted Sunday, “RIP P.O. Dave Guevara. Another 70BlueAngel gone too soon.”
Lakisha Guevara said her husband wasn’t an emergency responder on Sept. 11, 2001, but that he clocked many hours doing recovery operations at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
“It certainly changed the way he perceived things,” she said. “It’s a horror when you have to see people or even have to think you’re digging for people who have not made it in such a catastrophic way. It’s overwhelming.”
She said her family strongly suspects that her husband, who was healthy and never smoked, died as a result of the toxic exposure.
“His death happened so suddenly. He deteriorated to a point where most of his organs failed, and it was one thing after another where every day I would go to the hospital and the doctor told me something else failed,” the grief-stricken widow said.
Dave Guevara worked hard and was contemplating retiring in September, his wife said.
“That was a conversation that was on the forefront every single day,” Lakisha Guevara said.
“And he didn’t get a chance to even make that decision, so it’s heartbreaking.”
Guevara left behind a son and daughter, ages 14 and 20. His sister-in-law Marcia Richardson, 48, called him a “family man.”
“He worked hard but he was very dedicated to his kids,” she said.