A retired New York City firefighter who spent months at the World Trade Center site digging through debris after the 9/11 attack and then fought for health care for first responders even when wracked with late-stage cancer has died.

The Fire Department of New York said Raymond Pfeifer died Sunday morning after an eight-year fight with the disease. He was 59.

Pfeifer was among those who lobbied fiercely for the renewal of the Zadroga Act, which provides health benefits to first responders who fell ill after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. Another fervent supporter of the renewal was comedian Jon Stewart.

Stewart was among those lauding Pfeifer in January 2016, when he was presented with a key to the city by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

(AP)