Victim of deadly dust

THE headline ‘Wife who washed asbestos worker’s overalls for years died of cancer’ (Mail) could have been written about my mother, Maureen Gardiner.

She died from mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

This disease can remain undetected for decades and by the time there are symptoms, it is at an advanced stage and is incurable.

From 1955 to 1967, my father worked at an asbestos factory, coming home covered in the dust. Mum would shake it off before she washed his clothes.

After the inquest, we took advice about making a claim, but were led to believe that as our mother’s death was not as a result of her own employment with asbestos, it would not be upheld. We were left feeling that no one cared about the awful way she had died.

Dad felt all the responsibility of her untimely death on his shoulders.

Mum’s big worry was that my brothers or me, who were children

when my father worked for the asbestos factory, may have inhaled the dust, too. Dad’s regret is that he escaped the deadly disease and mum did not. SUE BURTON, Stonehouse, Glos.