Two Long Island sisters who were exposed to radiation at Chernobyl in 1986 are urging others exposed to get checked for various types of cancer.
In 1986, Rebecca Sanders and Jennifer Fogarty were in western Germany with their father, who was in the military when Chernobyl exploded. Both were exposed to radiation.
The sisters want to get the word out that those who were exposed to radiation in 1986 should still be checked.
Sanders is now fighting stage 4 bladder cancer and Fogarty has thyroid disease.
Fogarty says that the military did not alert people who lived there at the time of the accident.
"They did not tell us anything for 10 days, and then after that it was martial law for 30 days where we had to stay inside. We could still go to school, and then after the 30 days, we were cleared to be outside and we were told we would be OK and we're not," says Sanders.
Fogarty says she and her sister want everyone to know that if they were in western Europe in 1986 when Chernobyl exploded, they are at very high risk of thyroid and or bladder cancer. She says that both are curable, but people need to get checked and treated.
Fogarty says there are many studies done in Germany that show a link between the Chernobyl incident and people getting sick.
Thursday marks the 32nd anniversary of Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident.