MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX News) — Jack McNamara was nearly three years old when his father, John McNamara, died from stage four colon cancer.
John McNamara was a New York City Fire Department Engine 234 firefighter and a 9/11 responder who spent 500 hours working at Ground Zero, digging through rubble after the towers collapsed.
Eight years after Sept. 11, John McNamara died from stage four colon cancer. His son believes the aftermath of 9/11 is what killed him — and now fights to prove it.
"They said it was safe to breathe and that these cancers would come up later down the road and people would die later down the road. It wasn't very long after that my father passed away. It wasn't very long after that my father got diagnosed with cancer," Jack McNamara said.
John McNamara arrived at Ground Zero after the towers had already collapsed, but his son says that did not diminish his commitment or his sacrifice.
"So he got there after they collapsed, but he worked 500 hours and more because he - my dad was one of the best guys that I had ever heard of," McNamara said.
Jack McNamara's parents visited the site together often. He described how his father would share what the recovery teams found each day.
"They would go on the roof and actually look over the site, and my dad would tell her where they found a body that day or where they found pieces of someone that day or even something so simple as an ID card from someone so they could identify that person was there," McNamara said.
Now, as the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, Jack McNamara says he wants people to remember not only those who died on that day, but also those who died in the months and years that followed — like his father.
"So goes the slogan: 343 and counting. We're still counting because these deaths come up all the time," McNamara said.
He says his father's character speaks for itself.
"I can tell you he was heading that way and he was coming to help. And I can tell you if those towers were still standing when he'd got there, he would have gone up to help," McNamara said.
Before John McNamara died, he created a wishlist. On that wishlist was the goal to help people, which is how the Johnny Mac Foundation was created in 2010. The foundation has helped countless people throughout the years all over the country.
If you'd like to learn more about the foundation, you can visit the website or go to their contribution page to donate to the fund.
