I ate asbestos as a child.. now I’m fighting cancer
Doctors’ bombshell for Danielle, 23
A YOUNG woman with a rare asbestos-related cancer believes it was caused by something she ate as a toddler.
Danielle Smalley, 23, has been diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma – a cancer of the lining of the abdomen caused by the ingestion of absestos fibres.
She said: “I could have eaten something at a friend’s house, or in an old shed in the park.
“It takes 20 years to have an effect. I’d have been two or three when I had it.
“It’s rare in women, rarer at my age. Usually it’s older men in the building trade.”
There have only been two other cases of peritoneal mesothelioma in under-25s since 2009.
Danielle said: “It’s been such a shock. I didn’t even know what asbestos was.”
Peritoneal mesothelioma is most common in men between the ages of 50 and 69. Most are veterans or have been exposed to asbestos at work.
Asbestos was fully banned in 1999.
Danielle’s parents Amanda, 47, and Simon, 51, run an alarm fitting business and have not knowingly worked with, or come into contact with, the substance.
She added: “It’s unlikely we’ll ever find out where the asbestos was.”
Client relationship manager Danielle, of Aldershot, Hampshire, plans to have some of her eggs frozen before chemotherapy as the treatment will make her infertile.
She said: “I’m really scared. Am I going to survive?”