Airborne - Edition 14

Yorkshire and Humberside Asbestos Support Group (SARAG) have been a lifeline for people across the region since it was founded in 1999, becoming a registered charity the following year. What started in Sheffield and Rotherham has grown over the years to reach right across the counties of Yorkshire, Humberside, and North Nottinghamshire, now supporting a population of around 5.7 million people in places like Barnsley, Bradford, Doncaster, Leeds, Hull, Rotherham, Sheffield, and York.

Our Senior Associate, Laura Wilkinson, was instructed by Mr H to investigate a compensation claim after he was diagnosed with biphasic mesothelioma. At the time he was diagnosed, he was sadly already too poorly to receive any medical treatment.

Laura visited Mr S at home and took a detailed witness statement from him outlining his employment history and his only known asbestos exposure whilst employed by South Western Gas Board (“the Board”), which later became British Gas. Mr S had worked on the tools as an apprentice service engineer, service engineer and supervisor between 1958 and 1986. He then went into an office-based role as a service officer where he remained until he was made redundant in 1994.

Whilst on the tools, Mr S worked in boiler rooms of commercial buildings and large domestic buildings in and around the Bath area. He carried out a wide range of work that saw him come across asbestos-containing materials, including removing asbestos lagging from water cylinders, cutting asbestos pipes that fed into boilers and water heaters, cutting asbestos sheets to form plinths for boilers, and handling old asbestos gaskets and asbestos rope. This work saw him exposed to often intense levels of asbestos dust over a prolonged period.

Michael Wolstencroft, a Partner in our team, was instructed by Mr Y’s family shortly after he sadly passed away from mesothelioma.

Ronald Holdsworth was diagnosed with mesothelioma following a rapid onset of symptoms, including breathlessness, coughing, and abdominal discomfort. Tragically, Ronald’s condition deteriorated quickly, and he passed away just two months after his diagnosis. The coroner confirmed the cause of death as mesothelioma and gave a verdict of industrial disease.

Our Associate, David Hughes, was instructed a few months after Ronald’s death by his widow, Rita. She was being cared for by her wonderful family, particularly her daughter and son-in-law, Donna and Dave. Rita had sadly suffered a major stroke following Ronald’s death, arguably as a result of the immense grief of losing her husband of 50 years. Rita took up the claim for her husband with help from her family.

Find out more about our recent charity work and events our team have been involved with.