Dust Lady: 9/11 survivor Marcy Borders dies from cancer aged 42

A woman whose picture became one of the iconic images of the 9/11 terror attacks, leading her to be known simply as the “Dust Lady”, has died from cancer.

Marcy Borders passed away on Monday after a year long battle against the disease.

The 42-year-old mother-of-two was pictured covered head-to-toe in thick dust after being caught up in the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Up until her death she always questioned whether her illness was related to what she endured.

“I’m saying to myself ‘Did this thing ignite cancer cells in me?” she once said.

“I definitely believe it because I haven’t had any illnesses. I don’t have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes.”

Marcy, of Bayonne, New Jersey, had only been in her job for a month working as a legal assistant for Bank of America on September 11, 2001.

Her office was on the 81st floor of 1 World Trade Centre when al Qaeda terrorists attacked flew into the two aboard two hijacked jets.

She disobeyed her boss who ordered her to stay at her desk - a move that saved her life.

Marcy, then 28, pushed her way down the stairwell to the streets below and stepped onto the pavement just as the south tower began to collapse.

A stranger pulled her into the reception of a nearby building as the other tower crumbled.

Following her death her’ brother, Michael Borders, wrote on Facebook: “I can’t believe my sister is gone."

After 9/11 she struggled as her life spiralled out of control.

She battled severe depression and became addicted to crack cocaine.

“I didn’t do a day’s work in nearly 10 years, and by 2011 I was a complete mess,” she said.

“Every time I saw an aircraft, I panicked.”

Eventually she lost custody of her two children as she checked into rehab in April 2011.

Following her death her cousin, John Borders called her a “hero” saying she, “unfortunately succumbed to the diseases that has ridden her body since 9/11.”

“In addition to losing so many friends, co-workers and colleagues on and after that tragic day. The pains from yesteryear have found a way to resurface,” he wrote on Facebook.