A HERO & HIS PALS
Aid ill 9/11 NYPD 1st responder
HE SPENT decades protecting lives — now his community is hoping to help save his.
Retired NYPD Officer Scott Blackshaw, who searched for bodies for days at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks, was told he had only months to live after he was diagnosed with terminal brain and spinal cancer earlier this year.
Then his Long Island neighbors stepped in.
As Blackshaw, 52, recently began a new holistic care program in hopes of finding a cure, friends in his hometown of Huntington Station, local business owners and former colleagues have rallied together to help him pay the bills, stay on track with his treatment — and let him know he’s not alone as he faces his toughest challenge yet.
After years of watching the NYPD veteran selflessly help others, Blackshaw’s pals felt it was only right to return the favor.
“This is someone who has pretty much been by himself most of his life,” said Mary Young-Lubchuk, 56, a retired NYPD sergeant who worked with Blackshaw.
“And we want to bring him to a place where he can be healthy again.”
Blackshaw, who never married, joined the NYPD in 1990 and was working with the 13th Precinct when the twin towers fell. He would spend the next 100 hours immersed in the devastation, looking for bodies among the rubble.
“I was overwhelmed. I had never dealt with something like this,” Blackshaw recalled, his voice shaking with emotion. “You were told to watch for a limb, a body part, so that’s what you did.”
Nine years later, Blackshaw retired from the force and moved to South Carolina to start a new life. He thought he had escaped the nightmares — until his first cancer diagnosis in April 2015.
“One Sunday morning, I decided to have a bagel with cream cheese, but about threequarters of the way down (his throat) it stopped,” he said.
Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center discovered that Blackshaw had esophageal cancer, and after months of intense radiation therapy and chemotherapy, surgeons successfully removed the tumor by cutting out half of his esophagus and stomach.
But the sickness didn’t stop there. In 2016, Blackshaw, who had moved back to Long Island, went to the emergency room with severe headaches, only to find that he had a golf ball-sized tumor in his brain above his right ear.
“I thought, ‘Oh wonderful, this ain’t over yet,’ ” Blackshaw said dryly.
Doctors were able to get rid of the brain tumor — but then a second lump popped up, and then another at the beginning of this year.
During his fourth diagnosis, Blackshaw was told he had leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare complication in which the disease spreads to the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.
There was nothing left to be done, doctors said. Blackshaw would most likely die in the next few months.
His neighbors, who for years had watched their beloved friend suffer alone, had seen enough and decided to pitch in.
Now, along with the help of a 24-hour nurse, Blackshaw couldn’t ask for a better team of caretakers. Whether it’s taking him to a doctor’s appointment, feeding him his medication or watching after Bo, his 10-yearold Welsh corgi, there is always someone there.
“I live right across the street so I’m always over here checking that things are getting done for him and that he’s staying organized,” said Sonja Mellynchuk, 34, a local floral designer.
“His neighbors walk the dog, get him Pedialyte at 2 in the morning, get the mail,” YoungLubchuk, who now works for the city Police Pension Fund, added.
“All his life, he’s been an island, and now he’s finally learned to ask for help.”
Several weeks ago, Blackshaw began seeing a holistic doctor who wasn’t covered by the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The treatment so far has cost him about $5,000 out-of-pocket — but his buddies are happy to pitch in.
“He’s got a lot going on so we try to help out in any way we can,” said Glen Dougherty, 46, a welder who has known Blackshaw for more than 20 years.
Blackshaw gets teary-eyed whenever he thinks about how much his community has done to help him.
“When you can’t even get your head off the pillow, the last thing you want to think about is, How much is this going to cost me?” he said.
It’s clear his time isn’t up just yet.
“We went from ‘Never forget,’ to ‘Never give up,’ ” YoungLubchuk said.