A 60-year-old Red Cross volunteer who survived both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the September 11, 2001 attacks is now pleading for help as she faces severe, ongoing health problems that she says feel like her body is “attacking itself.”
Jenn Ashcraft, 60, was present during the 1993 truck bombing beneath the North Tower, which killed six people and injured more than a thousand. She was also at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks unfolded.
After 9/11, she relocated to Prescott, Arizona, and began volunteering with the American Red Cross in honor of fallen firefighters. In 2015, she married Tom Ashcraft, whose son, Andrew Ashcraft, was one of the firefighters killed on 9/11.
“It was a way for me to heal and to honor all of those firefighters that lost their lives,” she told 12 News.
Severe health complications over the years
According to a GoFundMe page set up in her name, Ashcraft has suffered long-term medical consequences linked to the 1993 attack, including a ruptured eardrum, chronic ringing in her ears, nerve-like “electric shock” sensations, blood abnormalities, and physical injuries that required surgery after metal fragments were reportedly lodged in her body.
She was again present during the 2001 attacks, and her condition reportedly worsened afterward.
She later developed conversion disorder, which affects how the brain sends and receives signals, leading at one point to loss of function in her left leg and right arm. She has also been declared disabled by the Mayo Clinic.
However, the World Trade Center Health Program reportedly does not recognize certain autoimmune-related conditions, meaning she has struggled to receive support or compensation for some of her illnesses.
Ongoing health battle
Ashcraft is now facing a growing list of serious conditions, including autoimmune disease, severe inflammation, chronic pain, skin lesions, abnormal blood cell patterns, vision problems, and suspected tumors in her lungs that require urgent testing.
Her doctors at Banner University Medical Center Phoenix have recommended advanced scans, immunotherapy, antibody treatments, and specialist care, but some procedures have reportedly been denied by insurance, leaving her with significant medical costs.
Her situation remains critical as she continues to seek treatment and financial support.
