‘I liked to do everything myself. And now I have to accept the help that’s been given. It’s hard, but I’m super grateful for it.’

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Greg “Mickey” Hansen wasn’t even a firefighter when he ran up lower Manhattan’s West Side on Sept. 11, 2001, just after the planes hit the World Trade Center, searching for his sister, assisting others and witnessing the horrors that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people — including 343 FDNY members.

His sister survived. And, a few months later, despite what he’d witnessed, Hansen didn’t hesitate to join the FDNY ranks.

Source: Staten Island firefighter with ALS to receive mortgage-free home from Tunnel to Towers Foundation