A New York City police sergeant who worked at ground zero was laid to rest in Hauppauge Friday after losing an 18-month battle with cancer.

Michael Ryan, of Hauppauge, was 41 years old when he passed away Monday. He was 39 when doctors diagnosed him with three different aggressive types of cancer.

Ryan spent hours working at ground zero and a Staten Island landfill after the Sept. 11 attacks. During that time, he inhaled dangerous toxins many believe directly caused hundreds of emergency workers to develop cancer and other ailments.

Ed Mullins, of the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association, said he will continue to fight for health care for the group that considers itself forgotten by the city it served. Ryan's funeral, held at Saint Thomas More Church in Hauppauge, was not conducted as an "in the line of duty" death, which Mullins said makes all the difference.

"There's a significant difference between this becoming a line-of-duty death and a non-line-of-duty death, as far as pensions go and benefits go," Mullins said. "The truth of it is he was a 39-year-old healthy individual involved in athletics, and two years later, at the age of 41, he's dead and it doesn't make sense."

Ryan, a 20-year police veteran, leaves behind his wife and four young children.

Neither New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg nor Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were in attendance for the funeral.

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