NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A former NYPD detective and 9/11 survivor advocate died Friday morning from a World Trade Center-related cancer.
Dennis Murphy often traveled to Washington, D.C. with other first responders over the summer during lobbying efforts to convince Congress to renew the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.
According to his family, he was admitted to hospice care at Saratoga Hospital on Tuesday morning. He died at the age of 57 days later.
WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell spoke with the 9/11 hero while on a trip to Capitol Hill in June.
The 23-year NYPD veteran, at the time, said he was “privileged” to see Congress and President Donald Trump unanimously vote to renew and replenish the fund for 9/11 survivors for the next 70 years.
Murphy was diagnosed with cancer in his tongue and throat in 2017. He knew that his condition was terminal but fought for the fund to be replenished so his family and other first-responders would be taken care of.
"It's a worry of mine about the fiscal and financial wellbeing of my family after I pass away," Murphy said. "If the roof needs to be repaired, there's money there to repair the roof. If I'm not around I won't be able to paint the house anymore. She's going to have to hire someone to paint the house."
In June, he told Haskell his cancer had spread to his liver, lymph nodes and bones. He had undergone 56 chemotherapy treatments, 60 radiation treatments and two surgeries.
Matthew McCauley, a former NYPD officer and Murphy’s friend and attorney, told the New York Daily News that Murphy spent his final moment surrounded by friends and family, at a gathering that felt “like a celebration of his life.”
Funeral arrangements have yet to be set. There will most likely by two services upstate and in Brooklyn.
Murphy is survived by his wife and two sons.