Deborah Reeve, a 17-year paramedic, died on March 15 of mesothelioma, a lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, her family said. Reeve developed a cough in late 2003 and retired at the end of 2004 after becoming too ill to work.

Her doctors and family say her cancer was caused by exposure to toxic dust from the World Trade Center site. City health officials say it's too early to definitively link trade center exposure to respiratory illnesses.

A pending lawsuit alleges more than 20 deaths have been linked to ground zero exposure.

Reeve is survived by her husband, also a paramedic, a 10-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.