The NY Daily News

Bravest assigned to Ground Zero during 9/11 to be laid to rest Saturday

Nov. 30, 2007

By JONATHAN LEMIRE

An FDNY Emergency Medical Service lieutenant assigned to Ground Zero on 9/11 will be laid to restSaturday - his life taken by his devotion to helping others, his colleagues say.

Lt. Brian Ellicott arrived at the World Trade Center site the night of the attack and logged more than 100 hours working near the smoldering pile in the following two weeks, according to the Uniformed EMS Officers Union.

Ellicott, 45, died Tuesday at Staten Island University Hospital after a three-month battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leaving behind a wife and two kids.

"Brian would always say, 'This is my job, this is what I have to do,'" said his former EMS partner, Edward Cosenza. "Danger never entered the equation for Brian."

"But what he did there made him sick," Cosenza said. "His body just gave out on him.... It was horrible to see."

The EMS Officers Union says Ellicott deserves to be listed as an official 9/11 victim.

To date, no first responder who became sick and died after toiling at Ground Zero has been added to the list.

"This was a true hero, and he lost his life doing his job and serving his city," said union President Thomas Eppinger. "His family deserves everything that should come to them."

An FDNY official confirmed that Ellicott arrived at Ground Zero shortly before midnight on 9/11 and was assigned to the site in the aftermath of the collapse. The official could not specify exactly how many hours Ellicott worked at Ground Zero.

Eppinger said the city has denied requests to classify Ellicott's death as in the line of duty, which would increase the benefits his family would receive.

An FDNY source said insufficient paperwork was filed for an increase in workers' compensation benefits. A decision on whether the death would be considered in the line of duty has not yet been made, the source said.

The city medical examiner conducted an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the results are pending, a spokeswoman said. Eppinger said two tumors were found along Ellicott's spine.

Signed time sheets, provided by union officials, indicate that Ellicott worked 113 hours - including 41 hours of overtime - at the World Trade Center between Sept. 11 and Sept. 22.

Ellicott was assigned to "morgue detail" and charged with transporting bodies recovered amid the ruins to a staging area on Vesey St., Cosenza said.