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Asbestos cancer alert for 1970s boiler room mates
Woman who has rare illness fears for friends from teenage years
DOZENS of middle-aged people who grew up on an Archway estate in the 1970s could be suffering from fatal asbestos poisoning, it is feared.
Concerns have been raised following a six-figure compensation payout to a woman who used to live on the Brecknock estate and who now suffers from rare mesothelioma cancer.
Cheryl Marsh, 49, believes the cancer was caused by hanging out as a teenager with her friends in a boiler room which had asbestos insulation.
She told the Tribune that she now fears for the lives of her friends and worries they are “burying their heads in the sand” instead of getting the proper tests.
There is no cure for mesothelioma, which is often associated with former shipyard and factory workers and which can take up to 40 years to develop.
Many sufferers die within a few months of diagnosis.
Ms Marsh, a police community support officer (PCSO) who now lives in Brighton, said: “We used to hang out in the boiler room, me and my friends.
“It was a real den for us where we would sit and smoke and drink a bit as kids do. It was nice and warm in the winter.
“Of course, we just didn’t know at the time that the lagging was asbestos.”
She believes her illness may have been compounded by working in an Islington Council-run mechanics’ workshop, where she had to sand brake pads containing asbestos. She was never told it could harm her health.
Following her diagnosis in 2003, Ms Marsh reached an out-of-court settlement with Islington Council. Her case was fought by solicitors Thompsons, which specialises in such claims.
Ms Marsh lives with her partner, Ann, 50, a beauty therapist, and is receiving chemotherapy treatment at Bart’s Hospital in Smithfield.
She fears some of her friends may also be suffering from the fatal illness. Ms Marsh said: “I still keep in touch with most of the people I knew on the Brecknock but they are just burying their heads in the sand. If I’ve got it, what makes them think they haven’t?”
Mesothelioma patients often have to give up work shortly after diagnosis but Ms Marsh is determined to fight on. She continues to work four hours a day as a PCSO for Sussex police.
She said she “doesn’t want to know” her long-term prognosis and is researching treatment programmes in America.
Ms Marsh added: “I don’t know how much longer I have. I live each day as it comes. I try to be positive and I hope one day they will come up with a miracle cure.”
Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at Thompsons, said: “Many people mistakenly believe mesothelioma is a disease which only affects elderly men who previously worked in engineering or construction.
“However, we are now seeing an increasing number of tragic cases where asbestos has devastated the lives of very young people, like Cheryl.”
Richard Hill, Islington Council’s director of customer focus, said: “Our deepest sympathies are with Ms Marsh for her illness, which resulted from exposure to asbestos many years ago.
“Since this happened, local authorities have become much more aware of the dangers of asbestos.
“We have taken necessary steps to make sure residents and employees in Islington are safe from harm.” |
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