Sampath Pakkala is filing his claims for compensation before the December 21 deadline. Sampath was just a few months past the first death anniversary of his wife Deepa, who perished in Tower One with 295 others at Marsh and McLennan, when he discovered his father had cancer.
He hopes to find someone who will help take care of his toddler daughter Trisha and who can adjust to the needs of his parents. But right now, it is hard to focus on anything with his father sick. "First things first," he says, sounding in need of some sleep. "There are things we need to take care of. It's very difficult to think of anything right now."
Photograph: Paresh Gandhi. Text: Arun Venugopal. Excerpted from India Abroad's Magazine Special on the Survivors of 9/11