Jenn Ashcraft, a 60-year-old Arizona resident who survived both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the September 11, 2001 attacks, is now battling a severe autoimmune disorder that she says makes her feel like her body is burning from the inside out.
Surviving Two Tragedies
Ashcraft was present during the 1993 bombing beneath the North Tower. She recalled the moment vividly: “We felt the impact. I literally felt my flesh move from my skeletal being, really.” Eight years later, she was walking toward the towers on September 11, 2001, when the first plane struck. She witnessed the horror firsthand.
After moving to Prescott, Arizona, she volunteered with the American Red Cross as a way to heal and honor the firefighters who perished. “It was a way for me to heal and to honor all of those firefighters that lost their lives,” she said. There, she met her husband, Tom Ashcraft, whose son was one of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire.
Health Deterioration
Ashcraft has faced health issues for three decades, but her condition worsened in recent weeks. “My cuticles started bleeding. My skin developed some type of an attack, which now basically — now my antibodies are attacking my body,” she explained. Diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, she described the pain: “My chest, my back, my face, my arms, my legs, and it’s just very painful.”
Doctors have started antibody replacement therapy in an effort to save her life. “This has been a freight train that came,” she said.
Plea for Recognition
The World Trade Center Health Program currently does not cover autoimmune diseases, though recent petitions seek to add them. Ashcraft hopes her story will help other survivors. “I spent decades organizing blood drives and giving my own blood, and I just need a little back,” she said. “We shouldn’t go through this alone.”
