First Responder Dies From 9/11-Related Illness, NYPD Says

MANHATTAN, NY — A retired NYPD officer died Sunday after a long battle with 9/11-related cancer and other illnesses, his former police precinct confirmed Monday.

Scott Blackshaw, a 9/11 first responder, died on Monday of illnesses believed to be connected to the toxins at Ground Zero. He was 52.

Blackshaw served in the 13th precinct and the Midtown South precinct when he worked as an NYPD officer.

The New York Daily News reported that Blackshaw was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2015, before later being diagnosed with brain cancer as well.

Retired NYPD sergeant Mary Young-Lubchuk told the Daily News that Blackshaw had recently started a new treatment program that made him optimistic about his future.

"He thought he was going to last," Young-Lubchuk told the newspaper. "He really believed it."

Young-Lubchuk said she was with Blackshaw before he died.

"We were with him all day and he waited until we left the room. Can you believe that?" she said, according to the Daily News.

Blackshaw joined the NYPD in 1990 before retiring in 2010. He was stationed with the 13th precinct, which covers Gramercy, the Flatiron District and part of Chelsea, when the Twin Towers fell in 2001. As a first responder, Blackshaw spent hours searching for through the rubble at Ground Zero.

Blackshaw's funeral will be held Wednesday at the St. Anthony of Padua Church in East Northport.

You can read the Daily News's complete story here.

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