Survivors face added COVID fear

First responders and workers with 9/11-related illnesses are among the most vulnerable to coronavirus, and victims said Thursday they want their families fully-compensated if they die from the disease.

Rob Serra, a retired firefighter with four certified 9/11 illnesses, said he hopes it doesn’t come to that, so in the meantime he is taking every necessary precaution to keep coronavirus from impacting his health.

“I’m not sure I could survive it,” said Serra, 41. “I have enough problems getting through the day as it is.”

Since Day One, Serra and his family have taken COVID-19 very seriously. For two months he stayed alone in his Staten Island basement away from his three children while they still attended school.

“We didn’t know what they were going to bring home,” Serra said.

FDNY union attorney and 9/11 victims advocate Nick Papain said there have been more coronavirus deaths among people with World Trade Center related illnesses.

Papain and his clients said they are troubled by a new federal 9/11 federal Victims Compensation Fund directive issued this week that says if someone with a Ground Zero illness dies of coronavirus, and the death certificate says coronavirus, then they will need “additional medical evidence” before the fund can issue any death benefits.

The lawyer said the new rules will make it more difficult for victims’ families to get compensation.

His clients said the new hurdle underscores the need to be extra cautious.

“I keep a small circle of friends at this point,” said Paul Nagle, 62, who had open-lung surgery months after he was exposed to 9/11 toxins and has had a weakened immune system ever since.

“And they all know not to play around with it. If they are within six feet of me, they are told right away they need to get back.”