Anthony Hilder sadly passed away shortly before his 87th birthday from sarcomatoid mesothelioma in October 2021. Unfortunately, due to the backlog with the Suffolk coroner’s office, his Inquest only took place last month where a verdict of Industrial Disease was recorded. He leaves his widow Tessa Hilder is continuing the claim with the specialist asbestos claims team at Hugh James.
Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related cancer, the only known cause of which is previous exposure to asbestos. In order to pursue a successful civil compensation claim, we need to be able to demonstrate how Anthony Hilder came into contact with asbestos during his working life.
Anthony Hilder was employed as an engineer and welder at Jarrold’s St James’ printing works from 1957 to 1959. He then worked at Laurence & Scott Electromotors Ltd from 1958 to 1971/72 as a Time-Study Engineer. Then between 1971/72 and 1976/77 he worked at Bally Shoe factory Time-Study Engineer.
All of these factories were based in Norwich. Mr Hilder considers that he may have suffered asbestos exposure whilst working for these companies. Mr Hilder claimed that he regularly swept the dust on the floor, which would have included any asbestos released from the lagging pipes above him; He claimed to have used asbestos panels when welding to prevent scorches.
Tessa Hilder is now appealing for help from her husband’s former work colleagues who might be able to shed some light on the presence of asbestos in the factories and how he might have come into contact with the harmful substance.
“Anthony was extremely poorly before he was diagnosed with the aggressive subtype sarcomatoid mesothelioma and he deteriorated very rapidly as he could not undergo treatment. Tessa and his family remain understandably devastated by his tragic death. The family has a number of questions about Anthony’s past asbestos exposure and are keen to discover precisely how he came into contact with the substance from speaking to his former work colleagues.
While nothing can make up for the loss of a much-loved father of three sons and kind grandfather, we are determined to support the Anthony’s widow and family in their search for the truth. Any information held by Anthony’s former workmates at Laurence Scott & Electromotors Ltd or Bally Shoe Factory Norwich could prove vital to the investigation and in providing the family with the answers they deserve.”
