James zadroga biography

American police officer (1971–2006)

James Zadroga (February 8, 1971^[1] – January 5, 2006) was a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who died of a respiratory disease that has been attributed to his participation in rescue and recovery operations in the rubble of the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks.

Zadroga was the first NYPD officer whose death was attributed to exposure to his contact with toxic chemicals at the attack site.^[2]

Zadroga had joined the New York City Police Department in 1992 and attained the rank of Detective.

He was a healthy non-smoker and had no known history of asthma or other respiratory conditions before spending 450 hours participating in the recovery efforts at the 9/11 attack site.^[3] Weeks after his time at the World Trade Center site, Zadroga developed a persistent cough, and, as the months progressed, he developed shortness of breath and became unable to wal