Whose lives have been cut short by asbestos exposure ‘MY DAD PAID WITH HIS LIFE FOR GOING TO WORK – THAT’S THE HARDEST THING’
piano and my uncle on guitar, we’d get together for a bit of a drink.
“He worked hard all his life and all the hours that god sent. He was a very fit, big strong man and full of life up to five weeks before he died. The cancer came over him all of a sudden and it just went downhill rapidly.
“He got diagnosed with pneumonia at first, but one night he came downstairs and said ‘I can’t breath’ so I said we had to take him to the hospital.
“He was in for a couple of weeks and was only diagnosed [with mesothelioma] three days before he died.”
Roy was told by medical staff at the hospital that he had an industrial illness and he started legal action in the days before his death.
“It’s heart-breaking to be honest. The compensation won’t bring Roy back, but it will make my life a little easier,” Sadie added.
As well as those families who are grieving, many are coming to terms with the shock of a mesothelioma diagnosis for their loved one.
Wayne Phillips, 70, from Aberdare, has undergone years of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for terminal mesthelioma.
He made a successful compensation claim through Hugh James against his former employer, the construction firm George Wimpey, after being exposed to asbestos when working as an apprentice carpenter on building sites in the 1960s.
“At that time, asbestos was the saviour, it was everything. It was even used in ironing boards, but I was using it in sheets for roofing,” he said.
“I was exposed to it for five or six years, but not constantly. The danger wasn’t known at the time for what I can remember. I wasn’t offered a mask, nothing. I’d be breaking up bits of asbestos and they’d fall on me and I’d breathe it in.”
Four years ago, Wayne started to experience pain under his arm and across his chest. At first, he thought it might have been a pulled muscle from working out at the gym.
“It took a while to diagnose it. I saw an article in the newspaper about a nurse helping someone who thought they had a damaged rib and saying they had been suffering with pain for a long time. They found out what it was and said there was nothing they could do about it – I wrote the name down of what it was, took it to the doctor and said ‘this is what I’ve got,’” added Wayne.
He said that the diagnosis had come as “quite a shock” to him and his wife, Patricia – Wayne had never smoked, rarely drank alcohol and exercised regularly at the gym.
“It is difficult, it’s terminal, so I’m having radiotherapy now. It won’t do much to the cancer, but it helps a bit with the pain,” he said.
“It absolutely changes our life overnight. We used to travel all over the world, but I’ve been unable to go on holiday because I can’t get insurance.”
Wayne was awarded a settlement from his previous employer.
“That was marvellous,” he said. “The money is handy, but we can’t really spend it because of my situation at the moment. We’ve got an allotment but I can’t dig really. I’m finding it hard to exert myself and I can’t walk very far.”
Many other families are wrestling with the devastating diagnosis.
Ken Dymond, 78, from Pembroke Dock, worked with asbestos in refineries and ships in Pembrokeshire.
He is claiming against a number of his former employers after being diagnosed with mesothelioma in February.
His daughter, Joanne Wiseman, told of the family’s shock.
“I’d never heard of it [mesothelioma] to be honest,” she said.
“I had to get someone to translate it for me so I could pronounce it properly. When you learn those words, you just wish you’d never heard them. It was a real shock.
“He had symptoms before not being able to breathe properly. He was lethargic, lost weight and had tests and biopsies, the diagnosis came on the last day of February.”
Ken was able to get his diagnosis with the help of Sarah Morgan, from charity Mesothelioma UK and another charity Asbestos Awareness & Support Cymru [AASC].
“Jo [from AASC] pointed me in the right direction. We had no idea we could claim compensation.
“The life expectancy isn’t very long and I would like people like my dad to have compensation while they’re alive and healthy. Realistically, these people are often waiting too long for compensation.
“My dad paid with his life for going to work – that’s the hardest thing to cope with,” Joanne added.