Thousands of lives were lost on Sept. 11, 2001, but federal officials now believe more people have died of illnesses related to the terrorist attacks then those killed on that day.

The announcement was made in a victims' compensation report that was put out Tuesday by the Department of Justice.

The report states “it is also sobering to see that more people are now believed to have died of 9/11-related illnesses than were lost on Sept. 11, 2001.”

It does not give a specific number, but first responders still suffering the effects of the day say the terrorists are still doing damage even 20 years after the attack.

Syosset volunteer firefighter Court Cousins is one of those first responders who will be at Sloan Kettering until at least the end of the month. He is now on the receiving end of a stem cell transplant but has dealt with a lot more from being on the scene of ground zero.

“Two cancers I confronted—the first was chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the other was a transformation of that to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” Cousins says.

According to the report, the Victim’s Compensation Fund has issued awards to over 40,000 individuals totaling nearly $9 billion thus far.

Cousins says it’s humbling that he’s fighting for his life after working at ground zero for just 72 hours.

“There are many people who were down there longer,” Cousins says. “There are people who have been sicker and people who are maybe confronting their condition with less of a support system that I may be blessed to have.”