A Red Cross volunteer who survived both attacks on the World Trade Center says she is now battling severe health complications decades later. According to the Daily Mail, Jenn Ashcraft was inside the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb detonated beneath the North Tower. The explosion injured more than 1,000 people and killed six. Nearly ten years later, Ashcraft was once again at the complex on September 11, 2001, when two planes struck the towers.
Approximately 3,000 people died after the buildings collapsed. After surviving both attacks, Ashcraft relocated to Prescott, Arizona, and began volunteering with the Red Cross. Ashcraft says she has struggled with health issues for years, but her condition has worsened. She described her pain as feeling like her body is burning from the inside.
Health Decline and Autoimmune Diagnosis
“My cuticles started bleeding. My skin developed some type of an attack, which now basically means my antibodies are attacking my body,” she told 12 News.
Doctors later diagnosed her with an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune conditions occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. Ashcraft says the symptoms have been painful and persistent.
Seeking Assistance
Ashcraft is now asking for help as she continues to face mounting health challenges. According to her GoFundMe page, she was declared disabled by the Mayo Clinic but was denied Social Security benefits.
She also states that the World Trade Center Health Program does not currently recognize autoimmune diseases as qualifying conditions connected to the attacks.
Her story highlights the long-term physical impact some survivors continue to face more than two decades after 9/11.