A woman who lived through both the 1993 and 2001 World Trade Center attacks says she is now facing serious health problems she believes are connected to those experiences.
Jenn Ashcraft was present during the 1993 attack and later survived the 2001 attack eight years afterward.
In the years that followed, Ashcraft moved to Prescott, Arizona, where she began volunteering with the Red Cross. She has said the work helped her “heal and to honor all of those firefighters that lost their lives” in the two attacks she endured.
While she has dealt with health complications for some time, her condition has recently worsened significantly. She was hospitalized about a week ago as her symptoms intensified.
Ashcraft believes her declining health is tied to her proximity to the World Trade Center during both the 1993 and 2001 events.
Speaking to 12News, the 60-year-old described the onset of some of her more alarming symptoms: “My cuticles started bleeding. My skin developed some type of an attack, which now basically means my antibodies are attacking my body.”
She has since been diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases, and says one of the most distressing effects makes it feel as though her body is “burning itself from the inside out.”
Describing the areas impacted, Ashcraft said: “My chest, my back, my arms, my face. It’s all very painful.”
She says doctors are now attempting to stabilize her condition with antibody replacement therapy.
Physicians have also found tumors on her lungs, which means further treatment and testing are required to determine whether cancer is present.
At this stage, it is not known whether those tumors are related to the attacks she survived.
Ashcraft is also facing financial strain. The World Trade Center Health Program does not currently list autoimmune diseases among conditions officially recognized as connected to the attacks, and she says that leaves her covering many costs herself.
A GoFundMe set up for her states that insurance has also declined to cover some of the procedures her medical team has recommended.
“Jenn’s medical team at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix has recommended specialized scans, immunotherapy treatments, antibody replacement and infusions and ongoing care,” the page reads.
“Unfortunately, some of these necessary procedures have already been denied by insurance, leaving Jenn responsible for significant out-of-pocket expenses just to move forward with the care she urgently needs.”
So far, more than $5,000 has been raised toward a $16,000 goal. The fundraiser, which you can donate to here, aims to help with the costs of her ongoing care.