‘Dust Lady’ of 9/11 Marcy Borders dies of stomach cancer she blamed on ash

Mike Gallagher

Aug 26, 2015 - 02:24

0 1.4k

‘Dust Lady’ of 9/11 Marcy Borders dies of stomach cancer she blamed on ash

Marcy Borders became known as the Dust Lady after this picture was taken (Picture: AFP)

Covered in dust and pictured in a yellow/orange hue amid the chaos of 9/11, this picture of Marcy Borders became an icon of the terror attack.

She survived for 14 years after the atrocity at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, but died on Monday after succumbing to stomach cancer.

Marcy found out she had cancer last year and in November said she believed it was as a direct result of the dust from the Twin Towers.

She told NJ.com at the time: ‘I definitely believe it because I haven’t had any illnesses. I don’t have high blood pressure… high cholesterol, diabetes.’

She @ peace now!!! Posted by Elnardo Borders on Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Marcy and her daughter Picture: Rex Shutterstock)

Marcy worked for Bank of America and was at her desk on the 81st floor when the plane struck between levels 93 and 99.

She described the building as ‘quaking and swaying’. She told the Daily Mail in 2011: ‘I lost all control and I went into a frenzy. I fought my way out of that place.’

She eventually got out of the building and into the streets where she and thousands of others were covered in ash and dust when they caved in.

Marcy Borders became known as the Dust Lady after this picture was taken (Picture: AFP)

She said: ‘Everything was falling, there was debris everywhere. I tried to run straight out, but the Army grabbed me and held me back, because there was stuff falling.’

The picture was taken by Stan Honda, a photographer for AFP, but she didn’t know she had been pictured until her mother called to say she had seen her.

It was part of Time Magazine’s 25 most powerful images list and inspired the song The Ballad of Marcy Borders