Wounds turn into scars  

Marc and Theresa Manfro reflect on surviving Sept. 11 attacks after 25 years 

As Marc Manfro prepared to speak at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Friday evening in Simi Valley, reflecting on the Sept. 11 attacks and the ongoing aftermath, one thing is certain: Even after 25 years, the negative implications are nowhere near subsiding.  

The health problems that Manfro has endured throughout the years, as well as losing his police partner John Perry, bear witness that 9/11 was a day that profoundly changed Manfro’s life.  

Perry, who helped rescue victims as an off-duty cop on his day off, was honored this week with the renaming of Madison Avenue and 101st Street to John William Perry Way, near Central Park. 

Manfro experienced firsthand effects from being on the site of the Twin Towers, and eventually had to be medically retired from the New York Police Department in 2002, right as he was moving to Castaic to start a new life.  

“I’m lucky to live this long. A dozen of my coworkers have passed away from exposure. You may have a half-a-dozen partners during the course of your police career, but a couple of my closest partners have had cancer — one has already beat it, and the other one is just starting to deal with it. It’s certainly from the exposure of being at the 9/11 site,” Manfro said. “Not only did we have the 3,000 losses on 9/11, but it’s understood that triple the amount of people have died from exposure.” 

Among new documents announced this week by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, “more than 170,000 pages of city records [documented] the government’s response to the attacks and their aftermath, as well as the settlement of two lawsuits brought by 9/11 Health Watch, ending a multi-year legal battle over records concerning air quality and health concerns following Sept. 11,” according to the official New York City website. 

Manfro expressed disdain over the government’s orders during the immediate aftermath of 9/11, stating he was aware that the site was not well-equipped for providing the right kind of safety and health measures for first responders. 

“Even though they had said that there was supposed to be no ill effects from working at the 9/11 site, the government knew that while they were telling us that it was safe to work down there that it really wasn’t. While we were down there, they didn’t give emergency responders any protective gear. Each shift that I worked down there, I would have a severe headache and severe cough. I worked down there for about six months, but the damage was done by the time I had a year on the job. I started to have shortness of breath, and that was when the police department medically retired me,” Manfro said. 

Manfro was inspired to become a police officer after he and his family experienced various crimes in New York City throughout his childhood, as well as following his father’s footsteps in law enforcement. Since being in California, Manfro has focused on improving his health, while also having worked as a celebrity bodyguard and occasional public speaker. 

“In September 2002, a year later, I was in critical condition from the exposure over the course of the year, working seven days a week and sometimes working double shifts. They thought when I went to the hospital, I wasn’t going to make it. They wanted me to get my affairs in order. I’ve been told that a few times during all my illnesses because I’ve had a double stroke, heart failure, I’ve had heart procedures. After I had heart failure, they give you a 50/50 chance of living five more years, and that was 10 years ago. I have a headache every day from working at the 9/11 site, but I’ve been healthy enough to stay out of the hospital for the last four years,” Manfro said. 

Despite the toxins and the emotional and physical toll Manfro and other emergency responders had to face, Manfro proved to be tough amidst a surge of suicide bombers post-9/11. 

He shared a couple of lines from his speech that he prepared for Friday evening’s ceremony at the Reagan Library: 

“While at the Roosevelt Island subway station, I confronted a suspected suicide bomber in the tunnel under the East River, on the narrow catwalk. After ordering him at gunpoint not to move, he screamed at the top of his lungs, and lunged at me as he attempted to push me onto electrified tracks. I neutralized the threat by knocking him out,” Manfro read. 

Marc’s wife, Theresa, reflected on how hard 9/11 continues to be for the family, even a quarter-century later. 

“Marc would come home and his clothes would just be covered with ash, his boots and pants. You’d have to undress outside the house to not bring those toxins. It was a tough year,” Theresa said. “He was sleeping that morning. I had heard something on the news. I had the radio on and they said what was going on with the first plane. I quickly put the TV on and woke him up. I just remember stepping out that day and everyone was silent. People were in complete shock. Sometimes Marc would sleep in his car because they had so much overtime. They were short manpower and sometimes he would be gone for days. We lived in Long Island, which is about an hour away from Manhattan. Marc is my Superman. This guy has been through so much and keeps on fighting. It’s just unbelievable.” 

With young kids at the time, the Manfros experienced challenging times. However, as much as they experienced those challenges head-on, they will simply never forget.  

“Marc is tough. He has always been very upbeat — nothing ever gets him down. He’s always happy and positive, and it’s great. He’s just got to keep fighting. Keep fighting. One day at a time,” Theresa said. “We will never forget. Wounds heal, but scars never do. The scar is always there.”