September 11 changed everything for this hardhat — including his sex life.
A construction worker who breathed “toxic smoke and fumes” while working five weeks at Ground Zero said he was left with a litany of ailments, including erectile dysfunction.
Steven O’Hara of upstate Wingdale clocked 12-hour days monitoring the equipment that was used to remove debris from the demolished World Trade Center between Oct. 24 and Dec. 1, 2001, according to his lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan federal court.
Since then, O’Hara claims, medical records show he’s suffered 17 different disorders that are all “causally related” to his exposure to “the vast quantities of thick smoke, containing dangerous air contaminants, which were present at the site.”
And while most of his problems involve his lungs — including asthma, acute bronchitis and chronic respiratory failure — O’Hara also complains that he was diagnosed with impotence on July 14, 2010.
“It’s absolutely horrible what happened to all of us,” O’Hara said, speaking through a screen door at the front of his home.
He said he worked in construction management “monitoring the whole entire thing, the site,” and became ill a couple of years later.
O’Hara also alleges an array of mental illnesses — including depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide — although they all predate his loss of libido.
He’s seeking unspecified damages from six firms involved in the Ground Zero cleanup for alleged negligence in letting him believe “that the air was safe to breathe and that it was safe to work in the areas assigned.”
As a result, he says, he’s experienced “pain and suffering,” “loss of the pleasures of life” and “mental anguish” that will continue into the future.
His wife, Kathleen, also wants compensation for her past and future suffering, “including a loss of the love, society, companionship, services, affection and support” of her hubby.
In response, the defendants last week asked to have the 2011 suit thrown out, based on a three-year statute of limitations from “the actual or constructive discovery of an illness alleged to be related to a purported toxic exposure.”
The construction firms note that O’Hara’s medical records reveal that he “requested treatment for erectile dysfunction” — Viagra — “at least as early as 2005,” the same year he began exhibiting symptoms of the Type 2 diabetes he also blames on his time at Ground Zero.
“Putting the obvious causation issues aside, Mr. O’Hara failed to file a timely complaint alleging diabetes and erectile dysfunction,” the defendants say.
When asked about the defendant’s claims, O’Hara said, “That’s absolutely incorrect.”
As for his breathing problems, the construction firms cite his “extensive smoking history” and records showing that he “experienced symptoms of and sought medical care for his alleged respiratory injuries as early as 2003 with some ‘wheezing’ dating as early as 2001.”
The defendants also say O’Hara’s shrink, Dr. Efren Rebong, testified that O”Hara began suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder “almost immediately after finishing his work at the WTC site,” making it “incontrovertible” that he knew “long before 2008 that he was suffering from various psychological ailments.”
Additional reporting by Laurel Babcock