Floor Zero hero Thomas Del Pino misplaced his brutal battle with 9/11-related mind most cancers — dying simply three days after honoring his fallen brothers final 12 months.
The retired firefighter, 66, was among the many greater than 57,044 first responders identified with Sept. 11 most cancers and certainly one of 5,892 individuals who got here into contact with the poisonous mud generated by the WTC terrorist assaults to die of the illness.
Del Pino had 18 years on the job and was the chauffeur for Ladder Co. 85 out of Staten Island when the planes struck on Sept. 11, 2001.
“He was extraordinarily grateful that he obtained to outlive that day,” his 38-year-old son, NYPD Detective Daniel Del Pino, advised The Submit forward of the twenty fifth anniversary of the assaults. “His huge factor was he by no means needed anybody to overlook about 9/11.”
His truck was one of many first despatched to the scene as a result of it had the very best ladder obtainable — a 95-footer, although it had no likelihood of extinguishing a fireplace 1,500 toes above floor.
“They have been pulling up when the second tower got here down,” the son stated. “Him and one other man ended up diving underneath a firetruck.”
Del Pino remained on the pile for days on the lookout for survivors and stays.
The FDNY misplaced 343 members that day.
“That was one thing that actually haunted him — the survivor’s guilt,” the son stated.
That was one of many causes his dad made himself “the liaison” to a different household who misplaced their firefighter father within the assaults.
“My dad needed to be the one to inform the youngsters that their dad wasn’t coming house,” Del Pino recalled. “His stays have been by no means discovered. My dad carried that with him.”
Del Pino had thought of following in his father’s footsteps since he was a bit of child, however he had blue blood in him as nicely, he stated. His dad’s father was an NYPD officer for 22 years.
His dad advised he take all town’s civil companies exams and the NYPD referred to as in 2010.
“These guys have been all heroes,” he stated. “When everybody else was working away, cops and firemen have been working into hazard.”
His dad was proud he adopted in his grandfather’s footsteps.
“He purchased a (police) scanner,” Del Pino recalled. “After I was assigned to the 77th precinct (in Crown Heights, Brooklyn), he would hearken to the radio to see if I used to be happening any calls.”
The daddy was over the moon once more when his son was promoted to detective final 12 months. Sadly, the son stated, it was the identical 12 months his dad acquired his most cancers analysis.
The elder Del Pino had a biopsy on July 1, 2025, and was identified with diffuse midbrain glioblastoma – a uncommon aggressive malignant mind tumor extra generally detected in youngsters.
He acquired radiation for 5 days per week for six weeks, however his liver started failing a few month later consequently, the son stated.
“His rally was on Sept. 11,” his son stated, recalling that his dad placed on his uniform and attended two Sept. 11 memorials close to his house in Millford, Pa., in a wheelchair. “He felt like he owed it to the blokes who died to pay tribute to them another time.”
He slipped right into a coma two days later and died on Sept. 14.
“He knew it was coming,” his son stated. “It wasn’t if it was going to get him, however when.”
