family members and friends planning a funeral for retired nypd detective luis alvarez. he died saturday after a long battle with cancer. the funeral wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at a church in queens. alvarez rushed to ground zero when the twin towers fell 9-11. for weeks, he helped dig through the piles of debris searching for victims. authorities said the air was safe. we later learned it was toxic. 18 years later after 68 rounds of chemo, doctors told him there was nothing else they could do to fight his stage 4 cancer. last month, luis went with jon stewart and other 9-11 first responders to capitol hill. he pushed lawmakers to provide long-term funding for the 9-11 victim compensation fund. the fund intended to help survivors pay their medical bills but it s running out of cash. senate majority leader mitch
mcconnell says that congress will hold a vote next month to set aside more money for the fund. days after luis visited washington to testify, he posted on facebook about how his liver shut down. all treatment stopped. luis knew he didn t have much longer. he wasn t ready to stop fighting. he reached out to shepard smith s team and said he wanted to do one last interview to advocate for his fellow 9-11 responders and here s some of his final message. i did what every other fdny, nypd, ems worker, everybody. i m nobody special. i did what all the other guys did. now we re paying the price for it. i m leaving them with without a father. there s plenty like me. we need this bill passed, shep.