When retired Nassau County Police officer Allison Beyerlein's routine blood work showed low levels of platelets – cells that help control clotting and bleeding – three years ago, she became concerned but never suspected doctors would find anything out of the ordinary.When her platelet levels dropped so low that her doctor sent her to the hospital emergency room, she learned differently.Beyerlein was diagnosed with acquired amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (AAT), one of the rarest blood disorders in the world.
The illness prevents her body from producing platelets, leaving her at constant risk of dangerous bleeding.Medical literature has documented only about 100 cases of AAT worldwide.Beyerlein's case highlights a bigger problem.She was part of a team of first responders who spent weeks cleaning up debris after the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.However, the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program is neither reviewing nor certifying new illnesses that may be tied to Ground Zero exposures after the 9/11 attacks.
That leaves patients with emerging conditions that could be related to such exposure, like Beyerlein, without program coverage or financial assistance.The rubble of the World Trade Center smolders following the terrorist attacks on Sept.11, 2001, in New York.
A hijacked plane crashed into and destroyed the landmark structure.(Photo by Porter Gifford/Corbis via Getty Images)Porter Gifford/Corbis via Getty ImagesMORE: New York senators urge immediate action to fix the 9/11 health program as survivors face delays“At first, I just couldn’t understand how something so rare could happen to me,” Beyerlein told ABC News.
“It wasn’t until doctors started asking about my time at Ground Zero that I realized this might be connected to 9/11.”Beyerlein said she first arrived at Ground Zero on Sept.12, 2001, the day after the attacks, and returned there repeatedly over the course of months.
She described her exposure to Gro...