Widower receives £140k compensation
A pensioner has received a six-figure compensation sum after her husband developed cancer due to working closely with the fatal substance asbestos more than 50 years ago.
The widow received a total of £140,000 in compensation when she took her case to a legal firm.
The condition developed when the pensioner began a work placement at a sea port, where he worked on the docks unloading sacks of asbestos from barges. Additionally, shocking is the time frame as the man only took up the position for six weeks.
The effects of the asbestos were only diagnosed last year, when the 69-year-old learned that he was suffering from mesothelioma, a painful form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which is virtually always caused by earlier exposure to asbestos. It is widely believed as little as one asbestos fibre can lead to the developing of the illness.
The man said: "I was having some chest problems. I thought I was suffering from pneumonia, and I was sent for a chest x-ray by my doctor. In August I went into hospital and it was noted that I had quite a lot of fluid on my left lung," he said. "I felt much better after the fluid had been drained."
Diagnosis reveals affects
In September 2008, he returned to hospital to have fluid drained from his chest for a second time. It was then that doctors carried out a lung biopsy.
The man also said: "On 23 September 2008, I was informed that I had been diagnosed with mesothelioma."
He added: "The only time that I was exposed to asbestos was doing some work back in 1961. I worked for Cape Asbestos, based at their site at Cape Close in Barking. I worked on the docks unloading sacks of asbestos from barges.
"We used large metal hooks to pick up and unload the hessian sacks," he said. "The metal hooks would drag and tear the sacks, and asbestos dust and fibres would go everywhere - in my hair, my clothes, my mouth. Whenever the sacks were moved around or dropped to the floor, they would throw up a cloud of dust."
Following the worker's brief employment with Cape Asbestos, he did not work with asbestos at any other time during the rest of his career.
He highlighted that: "When I was first told the diagnosis I was extremely shocked. I'd had a number of chest x-rays over the years and no problem with my lungs had ever been mentioned before."
Dominic Graham, an industrial disease specialist with a legal firm said the case was one of the most shocking he had ever seen.
Mr Graham stated that: "It takes many years after exposure to asbestos before any related disease becomes apparent. Although it is not uncommon to take 40 years or more to develop from the time of exposure, the fact that our client only worked in his job for six weeks is particularly unfortunate."
The affects of asbestos highlighted
Mr Graham, who himself has for many years worked with sufferers of industrial diseases, said the case acted as a stark reminder of the legacy of asbestos.
He said: "It is widely documented that even the smallest level of exposure can lead to mesothelioma, but for the work someone did in their early twenties - and particularly for just a few weeks - to lead to the cancer in this way is desperately sad. All this man did was go to work."
Mr Graham said he was particularly pleased with the speed the settlement had been negotiated. "Given the severity of the illness, this claim had to be progressed quickly," he said.
Mr Graham concluded by stating: "We sent the letter of claim in October 2008, but the defendant denied liability throughout.
"We were forced to issue High Court proceedings in June this year - eight months after the letter of claim had been sent," he said.
"Happily, we were subsequently able to agree damages without the need for a trial."
Updated on 28/10/2009