A 60-year-old Red Cross volunteer who survived both attacks on the World Trade Center is pleading for help as her body attacks itself.
Jenn Ashcraft, 60, has survived both World Trade Center attacks.
She was present when a truck exploded beneath the North Tower in 1993, killing six people and injuring more than a thousand.
On September 11, 2001, when the two planes crashed into the skyscrapers, she was also there.
After the latter attack, she moved to Prescott, Arizona, and dedicated herself to volunteering for the American Red Cross to honor the firefighters who had lost their lives. In 2015, she married Tom Ashcraft, whose son Andrew Ashcraft was among the firefighters killed.
“It was a way for me to heal and to honor all of those firefighters that lost their lives,” she told 12 News.
Crippling consequences on Ashcraft’s health
According to a GoFundMe page dedicated to Ashcraft, she suffered severe health consequences following the 1993 attack.
She suffered a ruptured middle ear and her ears are chronically ringing to this day. She also suffered severe electric shock sensations traveling through her skull, arms, hands, and legs along with blood cell abnormalities.
Her left jaw was dislocated and shrapnel pieces of metal were found and lodged inside her legs and feet. Both needed surgery.
On top of the physical consequences the psychological trauma was immense.
Eight years later, on September 11, 2001, she was again at the World Trade Center. Again she survived, but her condition only worsened as a consequence.
She later developed conversion syndrome, a condition that disrupts brain signals. She also suddenly lost the use of her left leg and right arm.
Ashcraft has been declared disabled by the Mayo Clinic. However, The World Trade Center Health Program – meant to provide healthcare for survivors and first responders suffering from illnesses connected to the September 11 attacks – does not recognize autoimmune diseases. Because of this, Ashcraft has reportedly received no help or compensation for many of her conditions.
Years of health complications and repeated hospitalizations eventually even left Ashcraft homeless at times.
The health battle continues for Ashcraft
Ashcraft’s current situation is dire. She has recently been diagnosed with serious autoimmune diseases and is now facing a growing list of severe health complications.
She suffers from abnormal and speckled red blood cells, bleeding nail cuticles and hair follicles, painful skin wounds that can appear overnight, widespread inflammation throughout her body and skull, constant physical pain, post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI), and damage to her retina and vision.
Ashcraft, who has dedicated herself to helping others experiencing trauma, loss and disaster, “is facing one of the hardest battles of her life”.
She needs urgent testing to determine whether the tumors in her lungs are cancerous.
Her medical team at Banner University Medical Center Phoenix has recommended specialized scans, immunotherapy, antibody replacement infusions, specialist consultations, and continued treatment.
However, some of these critical procedures have already been denied by insurance, leaving Ashcraft with overwhelming out-of-pocket medical expenses.
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