Sick 9/11 heroes desperately turn to online fundraisers

A troubling number of 9/11 heroes who are battling cancers and other illnesses contracted from the terror attack are also battling the public victim’s funds for their due compensation — and are even having to turn to GoFundMe for help, The Post has learned.

Volunteer firefighter David Bliss and FDNY EMS captain Bruce Hydock are desperately trying to supplement the cost of healthcare as they suffer through terminal diseases — which they claim the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Fund (VCF) and disability pension have refused to acknowledge.

“I remember distinctly banners going up: ‘We will never forget.’ Never forget, we’ll — I can’t tell,” David Bliss, a former volunteer firefighter from Ohio, told The Post.

Bliss, 61, was one of many out-of-state firefighters who arrived at Ground Zero to help the devastated FDNY in the days after the terror attacks. He spent three weeks combing the wreckage with FDNY Engine 54 — which lost 15 “beautiful brothers” in the tragedy.

Now, Bliss is dying from stage four lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and four other cancers, which he’s been diagnosed with since 2020.

The 9/11 VCF has rejected every claim Bliss has filed over the past three years, with each denial saying the hero did not provide enough proof that his illnesses are tied to 9/11 — or that he was ever at The Pile.

“I got a photo of me standing inside Ground Zero, right where the south tower used to stand. I’m on my cell phone!” said Bliss, adding that he’s also collected affidavits from family members, friends and witnesses attesting to his heroism.

“It pisses me off, that’s how it feels … I volunteered to go there, and right now, I’m literally dying. I’m giving my life for it. This is wrong.”

When Bliss submitted his first application, he hoped to use the compensation to ease his medical bills, but now he hopes to use the money for his funeral — if he ever gets the cash.

His hopes have plummeted to new lows, leading him to launch a GoFundMe so as not to saddle his wife and children with the burden.

The US Department of Justice, which oversees the VCF, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Bliss theorizes he’s being denied the money simply because he’s not from the Big Apple.

“They’re saving the money, probably, just for New Yorkers. That shouldn’t matter — I have a right. They’re running out of money, so they’re picking and choosing which ones [they’re] going to do,” he said.

In the case of Bruce Hydock, a retired FDNY EMS captain, being an NYC first responder isn’t enough — the two-time cancer survivor claims he has been denied his 9/11 disability pension because he “isn’t sick enough.”

“I have a high chance of having cancer again. I’m always worried I’m going to have cancer again. I have all this stress of fighting this. It’s something that I shouldn’t be going through,” Hydock said.

His illnesses sharply manifested in 2007. Hydock, a self-described “gym rat,” could no longer even walk without getting winded.

Over the years, Hydock has been diagnosed with a litany of diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome and sleep apnea, and went through two bouts of testicular cancer.

Fortunately, the World Trade Center Health Organization covered his medical expenses, but the debilitating diseases forced him to retire early in February after a year of medical leave. Hydock applied for his 9/11 disability pension to cover the costs of his day-to-day expenses — and was shocked to discover he had been rejected by the New York City Employees Retirement System pension fund.

When Hydock tried to appeal the case and provide additional medical documentation, he discovered NYCERS had secretly made a policy change that forced any rejected retirees to wait a full year to reapply.

That means Hydock is missing out on as much as $60,000 for this year alone.

To survive, Hydock has blown through his savings, sold his cars and even moved in with his in-laws — and turned to GoFundMe to help ease the burden.

NYCERS would not answer questions about Hydock’s case over “confidentiality” reasons.

According to the retired EMS captain, the problem is affecting hundreds of EMS workers, who go through a different avenue to get their pensions than the FDNY and NYPD.

“There are so many people right now that are far worse off that are literally looking at the end of the tunnel — they see the light and they’re still being turned away. NYCERS is carrying them right to their deathbed,” Hydock said.

“I did my job. I didn’t consider myself a hero. I still don’t. I was doing my job. This is what I signed up to do, right? And then when it hits the fan … the government doesn’t want to do what’s right.”