Several newspapers have reported on the possibility that the dust from Ground Zero in NYC was toxic, even though NYC citizens were initially told that the dust was harmless.

According to the New York Post, a nun who spent six months blesing remains and consoling families at Ground Zero is now requesting that her body be autopsied to prove that her lung cancer developed because of the poisonous air at Ground Zero.

Sister Cindy Mahoney, 54, wants her body autopsied so that she can help fellow World Trade Center rescue workers.

‘The government should help these people,’ says Mahoney. ‘Not leave them to die like I'm dying.’

Mahoney was at Ground Zero soon after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, but she did not receive a respiratory mask for weeks. She now suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Severe forms of these diseases have plagued other 9/11 aid workers.

Over 8,000 Ground Zero workers are now part of a class-action lawsuit due to illnesses from the toxic dust.