The FDNY is mourning the loss of yet another firefighter to cancer related to recovery efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The Daily News reports that retired New York City firefighter Michael O'Hanlon lost his battle with stomach and esophageal cancer on Aug. 28 at age 59.
O'Hanlon, a 30-year veteran of Engine Co. 68 in the Bronx who retired in 2013, spent weeks sifting through the mangled ruins of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan after the attacks.
"He was a very proud firefighter who loved Irish music and his Irish heritage," Gerard Fitzgerald, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, told the Daily News.
According to the News, friends and family said their final goodbyes Friday during services at Assumption Church in Peekskill, a town just north of the city in Westchester County.
The proud son of Irish immigrants, O'Hanlon joined the FDNY in 1982 and was a member of the department's Emerald Society, marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade along Fifth Ave. every year. He leaves behind his wife of 35 years, Maggie, and three children: Katherine, Michael Jr. and Martin.
FDNY officials say 159 members, including firefighters, EMS personnel, civilian employees and fire marshals, have died of 9/11-related illnesses.
"It seems like we are going to these funerals all too often," Fitzgerald said, noting that 1,700 union active and retired members have some type of cancer believed to be related to the aftermath of the attacks.
