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Marcy Borders

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Nationality
  
USA

Role
  
Bank teller

Name
  
Marcy Borders

Occupation
  
Bank Clerk

Other names
  
Dust Lady


On the upper left, Marcy Borders wearing a black top and necklace while, on the right, Marcy Borders covered with dust

Born
  
August 12, 1973 (
1973-08-12
)

Known for
  
A photo of Borders, covered in dust from the World Trade Center collapse, was widely republished following the attacks.

Died
  
August 24, 2015, Bayonne, New Jersey, United States

Children
  
Zayden Borders, Noelle Borders

Siblings
  
Dawn Borders, Michael Borders

Similar
  
Stan Honda, James Zadroga, Brian Clark (September 11 survivor)

The tale of marcy borders


Marcy Borders (August 12, 1973 – August 24, 2015) was an American bank clerk who worked in the World Trade Center and survived its collapse, following the al-Qaeda attacks on September 11, 2001. Stan Honda, a photographer for Agence France Presse, captured an image of Borders, completely covered in dust from the building collapse, that subsequently became widely described as "iconic". The image became so well-known and so widely distributed, that Borders became known as "The Dust Lady".

Contents

On the left, Marcy Borders is covered with dust while, on the right, Marcy Borders smiling and holding a newspaper

9 11 marcy borders stirbt an magenkrebs bild traf sie in manhattan cancer 9 11


Personal impact

Marcy Borders is covered in dust after the collapse of the World Trade Center

A resident of Bayonne, New Jersey, the 28-year-old Borders was working on the 81st floor inside of the North Tower at the time of the attack. According to the The Routledge Companion to UK Counter-Terrorism, Borders said that she never recovered from the trauma of the attack. A decade-long depression led to a break-up with her partner, the loss of custody of her children, and an addiction to alcohol and drugs. Borders said that a key event in her recovery and return to sobriety was learning of the death of Osama bin Laden. Borders had preserved the outfit she wore in the iconic photo.

Cultural impact

Marcy Borders smiling with a braided hair and wearing a blue blouse and earrings

The image Honda took of Borders became iconic; she was remembered in many retrospective articles about the attacks of 9/11. The Daily Telegraph chose her as one of the survivors they profiled on the tenth anniversary of the attack. Borders had been invited to spend the tenth anniversary of 9/11 at a memorial event in Germany.

Cancer diagnosis and death

Borders was diagnosed with stomach cancer in August 2014. Borders's cancer had already saddled her with a crippling debt of $190,000—even though she had not yet received surgery and she still needed additional chemotherapy. Borders said she could not even afford to get her prescriptions filled. She believed her cancer was triggered by the toxic dust she was exposed to when the World Trade Center collapsed, having once stated, "I definitely believe it because I haven't had any illnesses. I don't have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes." Borders died from cancer on August 24, 2015.

In fiction

On the left, Marcy Borders smiling and wearing a striped long sleeve blouse while, on the right, Marcy Borders is covered with dust

Borders and Sharbat Gula are the two main characters of Pamela Booker's 2009 play Dust: Murmurs and a Play. Both Borders and Gula first became known to the public through iconic photos. Booker dedicated her play to Borders and Gula.

References

Marcy Borders Wikipedia