(Image source from: Woman in dust during 9/11 terror attack dies of cancer})

Marcy Borders, woman in iconic 9/11 'Dust Lady' photo who became the symbol of shock and tragedy has died due to cancer. She was photographed covered in dust with distraught and confused expression when she escaped from the Twin Towers during the terror attack in New York City.

On Monday, Michael Borders, Marcy Borders’ brother, posted on Facebook that she lost battle with stomach cancer.

Mr Borders said, "I can't believe my sister is gone!"

John Bordes, her cousin, posted in FB that she "unfortunately succumbed to the diseases that (have) ridden her body since 9/11".

When the towers were attacked by terrorists, Ms Borders was working on the 81st storey of 1 World Trade Center as a legal assistant for Bank of America.

She pushed herself down stairs and reached footpath as the first tower began to fall. Stan Honda snapped the iconic photograph of Marcy Borders covered in dust as she takes refuge in a nearby office building after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York.

After terror attacks

Marcy Borders struggled with drug abuse and depression after terror attacks, she even checked herself into rehab in 2011, said the Jersey Journal.

When the cancer was diagnosed in 2014, she openly questioned if it was related to the dust she inhaled along with many others on 9/11.

“I’m saying to myself ‘Did this thing ignite cancer cells in me?’” she told The Jersey Journal.

 

-Sumana