September 11, 2001, was firefighter Rob Serra's first day on the job with the FDNY. He rushed toward the disaster that fateful morning to try and save his fellow New Yorkers. He's still living with the fallout.
Serra, now 43 years old, walks with a cane, though the numbness in his leg is not covered as a post-9/11 illness. But he deals with four other problems that are documented conditions, from lung congestion to chronic sinusitis.
"I’m about to be certified for a fifth. But I’m lucky. I don’t have any of the big illnesses," Serra told NBC New York.
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At the age of 21, Serra finished at the FDNY Academy on Sept. 10, 2001 — just a day before the deadliest terror attack ever on U.S. soil. He thought the next day would be fun and games.
"I was driving to Long Island to try out for the FDNY hockey team I was on the bridge when I could see the towers on fire," he said.
But like so many off-duty first responders that, he immediately rushed to help.
"I had no idea what I was doing. I had never been to a fire," said Serra.
Very quickly, he was down at Ground Zero, helping the rescue operation and donating blood. Even that day, Serra had a sobering thought.
"It was near zero visibility. Cloud of dust you could grab with your hands," he recalled.
Years later, Serra would link up with Jon Stewart and the FealGood Fundation, fighting for the Zadroga Act that helps care for first responders. Serra's own fire department career ended years after 9/11 when he was injured in a roof collapse — but he still considers himself lucky. After all, his wife' Kristen's father, Vincent Litto, was among the more than 600 employees of Cantor Fitzgerald killed when the World Trade Center collapsed.
"When we sign up, we know that can happen. But you’re working in an office, you don’t expect to be hit by a plane," said Serra.
Despite the pain, Serra focuses on the positive as best he can, more than two decades after the attacks.
"We can’t move on from it because we live 9/11 every day, I have a stack of pills next to my bed," he said. ""I have a lot of things that take away from my quality of life but I’m alive and here on this beautiful day."
