Fox News anchor Eric Shawn is speaking publicly about the serious health problems he says followed decades after he spent weeks reporting from the toxic ruins of the World Trade Center.
Nearly 25 years after the September 11 attacks, Shawn says he has battled chronic respiratory illness, gastrointestinal problems, and cancer while doctors continue monitoring him for possible prostate cancer.
The veteran journalist says he largely kept the extent of those health problems private, including from many colleagues at Fox News.
Now, as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Shawn is sharing his experience to draw attention to thousands of responders, survivors, and others who continue suffering illnesses linked to Ground Zero exposure.
Shawn, 69, was walking to work in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, when he saw American Airlines Flight 11 flying unusually low shortly before it struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
“You don’t think you really see what you’re seeing,” Shawn recalled.
He rushed to the Fox Newsroom, alerted colleagues to what he had witnessed, and soon began reporting from Ground Zero.
Shawn said he continued covering the aftermath for at least a month, frequently working 12-hour shifts amid the destruction.
“It was a shocking hellscape,” he said, describing the scene as more traumatic than war zones he had previously covered.
But the physical consequences of the assignment would emerge soon afterward.
Shawn recalled breathing what he described as a thick haze of choking dust created by the collapse of the Twin Towers.
Fox News reporter @EricShawnTV says the toll of September 11 has “invaded our hospital rooms,” noting his own cancer diagnosis during an exclusive interview with Washington Examiner’s Bri Miller. https://t.co/m968iZkUzB pic.twitter.com/o1FAK7tOK2
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 11, 2026
Although reporters and responders were provided respiratory masks, he said there was no way to entirely escape the contaminated environment.
“I remember the first night thinking, ‘This is not healthy,’” Shawn said.
Within approximately two months, he developed an uncontrollable cough and sought medical treatment.
His doctor referred to the condition as the “World Trade Center cough,” a term commonly used at the time among people exposed to the dust cloud.
Shawn initially believed the problem would eventually disappear, but the cough developed into acute chronic bronchitis that troubled him for years.
He also developed gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, which he described as producing the recurring sensation of having a golf ball lodged in his throat.
More recently, Shawn was diagnosed with skin cancer, which he believes is connected to the hazardous substances he encountered while working near Ground Zero.
Doctors have also become concerned about rapidly rising prostate-specific antigen levels.
Shawn said physicians have determined that he has what he described as the “highest level of probable” prostate cancer, although he has not disclosed a confirmed diagnosis.
He is undergoing active surveillance and testing approximately every three months.
Shawn has been certified for cancer-related monitoring through the federal World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical monitoring and treatment for eligible responders and survivors affected by 9/11 exposures.
Research involving people exposed to the World Trade Center disaster has identified elevated risks for several cancers, including prostate cancer, thyroid cancer and melanoma.
The broader health toll continues to grow decades after the attacks.
More than 145,000 people are currently receiving treatment for health problems associated with 9/11 exposure, and cancer is now among the most common conditions affecting program members.
Shawn said that reality reflects a concern he remembers having while breathing the dust in 2001.
“I wonder what’s gonna happen in 20, 30 years from now,” he recalled thinking at the time.
“Well, we’re there now,” Shawn said.
His decision to speak publicly is intended partly to highlight journalists who spent extended periods covering Ground Zero but may receive less attention than firefighters, police officers and other first responders.
Shawn emphasized that he considers himself only one of many people still confronting the physical consequences of exposure, People Magazine reported.
For him, the attacks did not end when the fires were extinguished or the debris was removed.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
