New York City Council members and advocates are calling on the federal government to pass legislation ensuring health care funding for 9/11 first responders and survivors.
It’s an issue close to the heart of one survivor who is sharing her story for the first time with CBS News New York health reporter Jenna DeAngelis.
“It wasn’t my first career path, but it was my first passion”
In 2001, Jocelyn Brooks was working at Lehman Brothers.
“When One World Trade Center was hit and I was sitting in my cubicle, and I stood up and I looked out and I saw the debris that was coming down, in my heart, I knew that I was going to die,” she said.
She ran for her life, down 40 flights of stairs, stepping outside to a sight that’s embedded in her memory.
“I watched people jumping from the buildings,” she said. “And they are not gonna go home tonight. They are not going home tonight.”
Surviving 9/11 left the mother of two thinking about her purpose in life.
Jocelyn Brooks 
Brooks eventually left her successful finance career behind to become a nurse at 48 years old.
“It wasn’t my first career path, but it was my first passion,” she said.
A passion which she says came from watching her mother raise 12 children in Trinidad. They couldn’t afford routine health care, so she did it all.
“Are we going to just die because of a lack of funding?”
Today, Brooks, now 61, works in the bone marrow transplant unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, often caring for patients battling cancer linked to 9/11 exposure, sharing a special bond.
“It’s a blessing, and I, I’m going to care for them. I’m going to give them the best care,” she said.
Knowing their sacrifice and the cost of treatment, she’s advocating funding is secured for first responders and survivors of 9/11.
“As we get older, chances of us developing cancer would increase, and if there’s no funding, then what happens? Are we going to just die because of a lack of funding? At this point, we need our legislators to go out there and fight for us,” Brooks said.
Jocelyn Brooks 
While reflecting on 9/11, she shared the sole photo she has of herself working in that building. On display at her desk is a drawing her daughter made depicting Brooks as a nurse.
“It was destined. This is destiny right here,” Brooks said.
“This funding is absolutely crucial”
City leaders gathered Wednesday to urge President Trump and Congress to pass the bipartisan 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act of 2025.
If passed, the bill would modify the World Trade Center Health Program by updating the formula used to determine the program’s annual funding. Advocates say the program is a critical source of assistance for 120,000 responders and survivors of the September 11th attacks.
“This funding is absolutely crucial,” City Council Member Linda Lee said. “Whether it’s post traumatic stress disorder or cancer treatment, we need to make sure that that funding is in place.”
Supporters of the measure say current funding is not enough to keep up with the anticipated costs of the program’s services.