Prominent campaigner for 9/11 first responders killed in hospital car park

A prominent advocate for 9/11 first responders has died after being hit by a vehicle in the car park of a New Jersey rehabilitation hospital.

Officials with the Galloway Township Police Department announced the death of Joseph Zadroga, 76, in a Facebook post on Sunday.

According to police, he was struck by a driver, who has been identified as 82-year-old James McNeal, as he was pulling into a parking space. Mr Zadroga was just standing outside his parked car, officials said.

As Mr McNeal began to enter the space, he accelerated, struck Mr Zadroga’s car and allegedly pinned him underneath the vehicle. Emergency responders performed life-saving measures on site but were unable to save him.

He was pronounced deceased at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center. An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

Mr Zadroga spent much of his time advocating for the rights of 9/11 first responders, including lobbying for the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. The legislation was named after his late son, James Zadroga, who died from a respiratory condition in 2006, which The Associated Press reported was believed to have stemmed from responding to the tragedy.

After the law expired, he campaigned for its extension and it was reauthorised in 2015. The law is now set to expire in 2090. The act offers federal benefits to law enforcement personnel and first responders who worked in connection with the terrorist attack.

“I just want everybody out there, the victims who got sick, to have the health care that they deserve, because Jimmy didn’t get it,” the advocate said while speaking at a rally at the site of the destruction.

“Jimmy did not get the health care that he deserved, and I don’t want other families to go through what he did,” he added, explaining how his son was barely able to walk up the stairs at the end of his life.

Mr Zadroga also served as the chief of police for the North Arlington Police Department for about 27 years.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum expressed its condolences to members of Mr Zadroga’s family. They described him as “among our nation’s earliest champions on behalf of those affected by 9/11 related diseases.”

Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, echoed those remarks.

“Joe Zadroga never gave up the fight for his son James and all of our 9/11 first responders,” he said. “Not once.”

“This is a tragic loss of a true hero and I ask all New Yorkers to join me in keeping his family and loved ones in your hearts today.”