The diagnosis came after years in which she had already struggled to regain control of her life.
She underwent chemotherapy and faced the prospect of additional treatment.
But there was another crisis developing alongside the medical one.
Money.
Borders did not have adequate health insurance, and according to reporting at the time, her medical expenses had climbed to approximately $190,000. She struggled to afford medications and treatment.
For someone already dealing with a serious illness, financial insecurity created another layer of suffering.
Cancer is frightening enough on its own.
Cancer while worrying about how to pay for treatment is something else entirely.
The bills become part of the illness.
The prescriptions become part of the anxiety.
Every appointment can come with a financial calculation.
Every treatment can raise the question of how much more debt a person can survive.
Did 9/11 Cause Her Cancer?
This is one part of Borders' story that requires particular care.
Borders herself believed her cancer was connected to the toxins she had inhaled on September 11.
In an interview with The Jersey Journal, she questioned whether the exposure had triggered cancer in her body. Contemporary reporting quoted her expressing a strong belief that the attack was responsible.
Her belief is understandable.
She had been directly exposed to the enormous dust cloud created by the collapse.
She had breathed the air around Ground Zero.
She had been physically covered in debris.
And she developed cancer years later.
But believing something and scientifically proving it are not the same thing.
At the time of her death, researchers had not established that the toxins encountered on September 11 directly caused Borders' specific cancer. The Associated Press explicitly noted that researchers had not determined whether exposure to toxins during the attacks increased an individual's likelihood of developing particular cancers.
Even today, it would be inaccurate to state as an established medical fact that Borders' stomach cancer was caused by 9/11 exposure.
What can be said with confidence is that the World Trade Center environment contained numerous hazardous substances and that long-term health effects among exposed populations have been extensively documented.
The federal WTC Health Program now covers cancers under defined eligibility and certification criteria, including cancers of the digestive system.
That distinction is important.
It allows us to respect Borders' own understanding of what happened to her without presenting an unproven individual causal connection as settled science.
A Medical Crisis Became a Financial Crisis
Borders' final year was marked by extraordinary difficulty.
She was fighting cancer.
She needed treatment.
She needed medication.
And she was struggling under a mountain of medical debt.
Reports published during her illness described approximately $190,000 in medical bills, even before all of the treatment she needed had been completed. At one point, she reportedly struggled to afford prescriptions needed to manage chemotherapy-related nausea and pain.
The story is particularly painful because Borders had already become an unwilling symbol of national tragedy.
Her photograph had been seen by millions.
Her face was familiar to people who did not know her name.
Yet fame did not protect her.
The cameras that had captured her on September 11 were gone.
The crowds had moved on.
The world had continued.
And Marcy was left to deal with the consequences privately.
This is one of the most powerful lessons in her story.
Being visible does not mean being seen.
Millions had seen Marcy Borders.
Far fewer people understood what she was going through.
The Broader Legacy of 9/11
The September 11 attacks killed almost 3,000 people on the day itself.
But the health consequences did not stop when the towers fell.
They did not stop when Ground Zero was cleared.
They did not stop when the memorial opened.
And they did not stop when the anniversary passed.
The CDC now describes 9/11 as an event whose health effects continue decades later. Thousands of people continue to experience chronic conditions linked to exposure to dust, smoke, debris and traumatic events.
That is why the World Trade Center Health Program was created.
Established federally through the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, the program provides monitoring and treatment for eligible responders and survivors with certified 9/11-related health conditions. The program has been authorized through 2090.
Its existence represents an acknowledgment that September 11 was not a single-day disaster.