A woman who survived two attacks on the World Trade Center is now battling a disease that she says is burning her body from the inside out.
Phoenix – Yes Some memories that are too difficult Jenn Ashcraft tells her story as she battles a horrific disease.
“We suffer in silence,” Ashcraft said.
With nowhere to go but a hospital bed, the Arizona resident couldn’t help but think about the two tragedies that may have brought her here.
“It’s a freight train coming,” Ashcraft said.
Ashcraft, 60, Tell 12News She survived two terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
First, in 1993, a bomb detonated beneath the north tower.
“We felt the impact. I literally felt my flesh move out of my bones, literally,” Ashcraft said.
She said she was there again on September 11, 2001, when planes flew towards the two towers.
“I was walking toward the Twin Towers. I saw the first plane go down,” Ashcraft said.
Ashcraft moved to Prescott, Arizona, and began volunteering for the American Red Cross.
“This is a way for me to heal and honor all the firefighters who have lost their lives,” Ashcraft said.
There she met her husband, Tom Ashcraft, the father of one of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died fighting the Yarnell Mountain Fire in 2013.
“I spent decades organizing blood drives and donating my own blood, and I just wanted a little something in return,” Ashcraft said.
Ashcraft said she has battled ongoing health issues for the past three decades, but her condition has gotten worse in the past few weeks.
“My cuticles started bleeding. I had some type of attack on my skin, and now basically – now my antibodies are attacking my body,” Ashcraft said.
She told 12News she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and said her body was burning from the inside out.
“My chest, my back, my face, my arms, my legs, it was all so painful,” Ashcraft said. “They started injecting me with antibodies to try to save my life.”
The World Trade Center Health Plan provides coverage for survivors and first responders with health problems due to 9/11, but does not currently recognize autoimmune diseases. There was a recent petition to add them to the list.
“I want to help other survivors,” Ashcraft said.
Ashcraft said she hopes her story will highlight the challenges many survivors continue to face who wish they could forget these tragedies.
“We shouldn’t have to go through this alone,” Ashcraft said.
