Retired New York Giants football player George Martin passed the 500th mile of his 3,200-mile walk across the United States to benefit seriously ill Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers. Martin began his walk from New York to San Francisco on Sept. 16.

Martin seeks to raise several million dollars to provide healthcare for 9/11 responders and increase awareness about the illnesses now affecting those who are suffering from lung disease, post traumatic stress disorder and other serious medical conditions stemming from their efforts at Ground Zero after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Martin anticipates reaching Kingsport, Tenn., around Nov. 7, as his journey bends from south to west. He is averaging 20 to 30 miles per day on foot. His trek began at the George Washington Bridge in New York City and will end at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in Spring 2008. Martin’s path can be tracked online daily via a GPS system accessible at www.ajourneyfor911.info.

"Six years after the attacks, many are now seriously ill from the trauma and the toxins they were exposed to at Ground Zero, and they deserve the best medical care available,” Martin said. “The true measure of our success will be when we can substantially raise the national awareness about and funds needed to provide proper care. Most of these rescue and recovery workers are not adequately covered for or are able to obtain the medical care they simply must have.”

Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Systems in New York, and the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York will match in medical services the total funds Martin’s journey raises.