Soaring numbers of women who have been exposed to asbestos are seeking compensation.
Legal experts have revealed females struck down by mesothelioma the killer lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos dust are increasingly coming to them for advice on how to lodge claims.
They include teachers, hospital workers and even the wives of shipbuilders who contracted the disease washing their husbands’ overalls.
“I have acted for clients devastated by mesothelioma for 25 years now and until last year it was almost exclusively men,” said David Short, partner with Edinburgh law firm Balfour Manson. “These are women who have not worked in traditional shipbuilding and construction jobs previously linked to mesothelioma.They are mainly teachers, office workers and others who were exposed to asbestos built into walls or through heaters containing lethal asbestos fibres.”
Mesothelioma, which affects the lung lining, can take up to 50 years to develop after victims have been exposed. The Health and Safety Executive predicts that female deaths from the cancer will soar from 408 this year to 465 in 2020.
Asbestos Action Tayside says it is counselling and supporting women fighting for their lives after developing the disease.
“We help office workers who have contracted mesothelioma after breathing in asbestos dust caused by renovation work,” said manager Alison Blake.
“One lady lab assistant got mesothelioma from asbestos tiles used as mats for Bunsen burners. Others got it from washing their husbands’ dirty overalls.”
Office worker Dianne Willmore, 49, was one of the first women to receive compensation after being exposed to asbestos as a schoolgirl.
The mum-of-two from Liverpool died the day after a judge ruled she was entitled to £240,000 compensation in 2011.
Campaign group Asbestos in Schools is lobbying councils to monitor classrooms. It was founded by Michael Lees, whose wife Gina, a teacher, died 12 years ago from mesothelioma which a coroner blamed on exposure to asbestos in classrooms.
“We’re sitting on an asbestos time bomb for teachers and pupils,” said a spokesman for the organisation.
Asbestos was used in many workplaces, including schools, hospitals and offices, until the 1990s when its risks became well known. It was also prevalent in shipbuilding and construction. The Government announced earlier this month that victims of asbestos-related cancer who cannot trace a liable employer will be able to apply for compensation worth an average of £115,000 within months.
Mary Campbell was stunned when doctors told her she had mesothelioma.
She had worked as an administrator for an insurance company but fears that she was exposed to asbestos while washing her ex-husband’s overalls. He helped build Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
“Like most construction workers he would come home and put his overalls in the laundry,” says Mary, pictured. “They were dusty and I never gave a thought to any danger as I shook them out.”
Great-grandmother, Mary, 75, from Perth, had one lung blocked with fluid when she was diagnosed 22 months ago.
Her GP had treated her for a chest infection not thinking she was suffering from mesothelioma. He eventually referred her to hospital when a persistent cough failed to clear.
“When the consultant told me to inform my family I was stunned because I didn’t know how seriously ill I was.
“I couldn’t believe I had a terminal lung cancer which strikes builders and shipworkers. Now I know their wives are victims, too.
“I am powerless to do anything because surgery or drugs cannot cure it so I am making the best of whatever time I have left. It’s so sad that the number of women is now
rising.”
She has instructed law firm Digby Brown to act for her.
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