Mesothelioma - the continuing tragedy
2nd July marks Action Mesothelioma Day 2010
02 I 07 I 10
The focus is on DIY in
the home with the aim to make people aware of the dangers of
disturbing materials containing asbestos. To find out where you
might find asbestos in the home a useful place to start is the
HSE
website.
We are told by HSE that
the number of people in the UK who will suffer and die from
mesothelioma will continue to rise during the next decade. Their
number will include those who worked in the past with asbestos in
their work such as laggers. Increasingly however those who have
disturbed asbestos whilst at work such as electricians, joiners and
plumbers will be affected. Tragically there are then those who have
been exposed unknowingly to asbestos whilst working in our schools
and hospitals, including nurses and teachers, caretakers and
cleaners, a legacy of past use of asbestos in buildings
particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.
The statistics make grim reading but every
diagnosis of mesothelioma is not merely a statistic but a personal
and family tragedy. Real people not statistics suffer from
mesothelioma.
Recently I settled a
claim brought on behalf of the daughter of Arthur Martin. Sadly I
never met Arthur who died the day after Hugh James were contacted
on his behalf. Arthur had worked as a lagger in the power stations
near Pontypridd and Llanelli in the late 1930s and early 1940s
before he was conscripted and served with the army in Burma. It was
his only exposure to asbestos before his untimely death over 60
years later.
We had no direct evidence
of his exposure and had to rely upon the evidence of friends and
family, in particular his good friend Malcolm, to whom rugby loving
Arthur had spoken many times, both of his time in Burma and also of
his work as a lagger as a young man. From Malcolm, a former officer
of the GMB union, I learnt of the developing knowledge of
mesothelioma in the early 1960s.It was then dawning with horror
that not only was it the laggers who were dying from an unknown
disease from working with asbestos, but also their wives were dying
as well from exposure to asbestos when washing their husbands’
overalls.
In his latter years, as a
consequence of the untimely death of his wife, Arthur campaigned
tirelessly and successfully to ensure that patients in Rhondda
Cynon Taf achieved equal access to cardiac care whatever their age,
overturning an arbitrary limit of 70 that had been set. Arthur
Martin was a hero and no statistic. It has been a privilege to know
him, even though we never met.
If you have any concerns about Mesothelioma or
would like to find out more, email asbestos@hughjames.com