Over $40K Raised For 9/11 First Responder Diagnosed With Cancer

LONG ISLAND, NY — The community is coming together to help a first responder as he battles with a 9/11-related cancer. Babylon resident Terence Connelly, who worked as police officer in Queens at the time of the terrorist attack in 2001 and was present when the tower collapsed, was diagnosed nearly 20 years after the attack. Just last month, hewas diagnosed with high grade glioblastoma, which was result of the chemical exposure at the scene that day.

His friend Elizabeth Weiburg, who works with Connelly's wife Jennifer Connelly at the U.S. probation department, wanted to find a way to help the family. The couple, who have been married for 17 years, have three kids, including one who they adopted from South Korea nearly two years.

"They are a hard-working, public service oriented family," Weiburg told Patch. "They are a true family in every sense of the family. When he received this news its devastating because it's not curable."

GoFundMe/Terence Connelly family support

After Connelly's diagnosis, Jennifer had to go on family medical leave and has been driving him to treatment in Queens to receive radiation and chemotherapy.

"It's obviously very difficult to exist on Long Island with one salary," Weiburg said. "When she runs out of her family leave will be relying on donations."

That's why she started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help the Connelly and his family.

"He's one of the kindest, gentlest, most lovely men you will ever meet," she said. "He's a fantastic husband and a fabulous father."

GoFundMe/Terence Connelly family support

In less than three weeks, the page has already raised a total of $41,462.

"The family is beyond touched by the generosity and caring that's coming from the community both from those who know them and those who don't," she said. "Terrance is a hero and he should be treated as such and his wife is the ultimate hero because she is standing by his side and taking care of business and there's nothing quite as difficult as being a caregiver."

Weiburg also said she is hoping this will raise awareness about 9/11-related illnesses.

"I don't know that there's much public awareness about how certain cancers have been latent for 20 years since the attacks and people don't realize that some of these people are just being diagnosed now. It's not just the people who died right away, or the people who were diagnosed six months, a year, five years later, I don't know there is a true understanding of these cancers that are just being diagnosed and related to the World Trade Center. This is not something that is over, it's not something that's not going to be over."

To read more or to donate, visit the GoFundMe page here.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.