The wife of a sick Sept. 11 worker from Yonkers is getting some welcomed news after years of struggling to pay medical bills.

Donna Nolan's carpenter husband, Jimmy, developed serious illnesses after spending more than two years at the World Trade Center site. "I have all the proof that he was down there and I have all the proof that Jimmy was never sick before 9/11," Nolan says. "Any illnesses that he has developed in the past seven years all happened after 9/11."

The Nolans spend close to $2,000 a month on his medications. Her husband also has to travel with a backpack full of pills and water to get through the day.

Nolan has unsuccessfully fought for years to have Sept. 11 benefits extended to her husband. On Friday, Gov. David Paterson announced that a new agreement will allow more than 1,000 site workers and responders to have better health care and disability benefits extended to them.

Jimmy qualifies since he was at the site within the first 48 hours. Many of the workers were initially turned down because they didn't have a physical exam before they were hired.

The news has given Donna hope. "That's what I've been fighting for, for the past seven years. That's all I want is for him to be able to enjoy whatever time we have left together."