September 11 took his son, decades later it took him too - the story of the firefighter who cost America his life

On September 11, 2001, as the second tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, then-New York City Fire Department Battalion Chief James “Jim” Riches rushed to Ground Zero.

His oldest son, Jimmy Jr., a firefighter assigned to the 114th Fire Department in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, was working that morning when he responded to the emergency call in lower Manhattan.

Jimmy Jr. was last seen carrying an injured woman from the lobby of the North Tower.

Instead of celebrating Jimmy Jr.'s 30th birthday the next day, Riches spent the next six months searching tirelessly through the ashes, risking his own safety, in search of his son.

Jimmy Jr. was one of 343 firefighters killed responding to the attacks.

When the towers and several surrounding buildings collapsed, a dense cloud of dust, gases, and toxic smoke engulfed the site, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"He was there every day looking for his son," said Richard Browers, a retired FDNY lieutenant and former president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association.

Riches' search for his son ended in March 2002, when Jimmy Jr.'s stamped helmet, with the number Ladder 114, was found in the ruins of where the North Tower once stood.

His body was discovered nearby.

Twenty-four years later, exposure to toxins from those months of research would also take Riches' life.

Riches died on Thanksgiving Day, becoming one of more than 400 FDNY members to have died from illnesses related to 9/11.

He was 74 years old.

Thousands of firefighters, officers, emergency medical teams and workers are battling cancer, lung disease, heart problems, digestive disorders and other chronic illnesses caused by inhaling Ground Zero toxins.

Riches spent two decades fighting to secure justice for 9/11 survivors, victims and their families.

He joined the fire department in 1977 and, over the years, earned the nickname "Big Dad" because he always had one of his sons by his side.

Jimmy Jr., a former NYPD officer, joined the FDNY in 1999.

His three younger brothers - Timothy, Danny and Thomas - would become firefighters.

When Jimmy Jr.'s body was found in March 2002, Riches called his sons, including FDNY Captain Thomas Riches, who was 17 at the time, and together they pulled Jimmy Jr. out of the hole at Ground Zero, where the North Tower once stood.

They placed him on a stretcher draped in an American flag, while nearby workers lined up.

"A whole team of us went down there on our hands and knees and dug, you know, with our hands," Riches previously said.

Even after finding his son, Riches returned to Ground Zero every day until recovery efforts ended in May 2002, hoping to bring peace to other families.

More than 2,900 people died on September 11th, and Riches was determined to help everyone.

“I stayed until the end and it was a terrible task,” Riches said earlier, “and it’s good that America never forgets because these people were heroes and they don’t deserve to be forgotten.”

"My son is not coming back. But you know, I have a cemetery to go to. There are a thousand families who have nowhere to go and it breaks my heart," he added.

Years later, Riches said that every time he went to that area, he would stop, bless himself and pray a little.

In the years that followed, he watched as his fellow firefighters began to fall ill - coughing up blood, battling mysterious cancers and lung diseases.

He was already sounding the alarm, writing letters, speaking at union meetings and testifying before lawmakers about the growing health crisis among 9/11 first responders.

Riches faced a medical emergency in 2005.

After months of difficulty breathing, he was hospitalized with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening condition that left him in a coma for 16 days.

"They told my family I was going to die in five hours, get everyone together. And I pulled myself out of that situation, then I had stroke-like symptoms. I had to learn to walk, talk and do everything all over again. I'm alive, thank God," he told CNN in 2014.

But his lung capacity was never the same.

"He couldn't breathe, you know. And he fought all those battles with his lungs and everything for years," Thomas said.

"A lot of people might not have known, but we knew at home," he added.

Riches retired from the fire department in 2007. His efforts, along with those of other survivors and families, helped create the World Trade Center Health Program and the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.

He testified before Congress, met with the Obama administration and traveled to Guantanamo Bay to represent families during hearings for men accused of conspiring in the attacks.

At the local level, he was not afraid to speak out, publicly criticizing then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for politicizing the tragedy and for the city's lack of preparation and outdated equipment - particularly nearly decade-old radios that prevented many firefighters from hearing emergency warning calls.

When the September 11 Memorial Museum opened in 2014, Riches was there — not to celebrate, but to denounce what he called "a revenue-generating tourist attraction."

He often spoke publicly about his disdain for ticketed admission.

The museum does not provide funds to support 9/11 survivors or their families, nor does it contribute to research on World Trade Center-related illnesses.

Riches' dedication to his family and his fellow firefighters was legendary.

"He always seemed like a majestic figure to me," Thomas said.

No matter how busy he was with work, he always found a way to attend every one of his sons' sports games.

Riches' legacy lives on in the Dyker Heights street in Brooklyn, which is named after his son.

He never really left Ground Zero - he stayed, dedicating the rest of his life to supporting 9/11 families and sick firefighters.

His funeral, held on December 1 at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, drew crowds from around the block, braving the rain to pay their respects. /Telegraph/