9/11 ‘Dust Lady,’ Marcy Borders, Dies of Cancer

Marcy Borders (AP Images)

NEW YORK (CBS Sports) — The photo of a young woman coated in dust and ash was one of the iconic images of September 11, 2001. Marcy Borders, then a 28-year-old legal assistant, became known as the “Dust Lady.” Now, nearly 14 years later, Borders has died of cancer.

On the day of the attacks, Borders was working for Bank of America in the World Trade Center. She made it down from the 81st floor and stepped onto the sidewalk as the South Tower began to fall, CBS New York reports. That’s when photographer Stan Honda captured the famous image of Borders covered in ash and looking like a ghost.

Borders, a mother of two who lived in Bayonne, New Jersey, was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year. She died Monday at the age of 42.

Her brother, Michael Borders, posted a message on Facebook Monday morning asking for people to pray for her. Late Monday night, he wrote: “I can’t believe my sister is gone.”