Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Compensation Awarded to Woman Suffering Asbestos Related Cancer Mesothelioma
2nd April 2007
A Brighton woman has received compensation after she was exposed to asbestos as a teenager playing just a few yards from her home.
Cheryl Marsh, 49, was awarded a six figure sum after she was diagnosed from asbestos-related lung disease, mesothelioma, in 2004.
Mesothelioma
There is no cure for mesothelioma, a fatal illness often associated with former shipyard and factory workers, which can take up to 40 years to develop. Many people with this condition die just a few months after diagnosis.
Cheryl was exposed to asbestos when she was 13 playing in the boiler rooms in the basement of her parent’s council flat in the Brecknock Estate, Islington.
Exposure to Asbestos
She was one of a group of 20 children who congregated in the boiler rooms during the winter evenings. She said it was covered in asbestos dust but at the time they did not know it was dangerous.
She was also exposed to asbestos later when employed by Islington Borough Council Social Services Department where she worked on a motorcycle scheme.
She came into contact with the dust when stripping down and sanding asbestos brake pads. She was never told it could harm her health.
Industrial Disease Compensation
Islington Borough Council admitted liability and has agreed to pay Cheryl compensation.
Cheryl is now undergoing chemotherapy at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.
Often mesothelioma patients are forced to give up work shortly after diagnosis due to the severity of the disease.
But fighter Cheryl is still working four hours a day as a police community support officer for Sussex Police more than three years after diagnosis.
She said: “When I found out I had mesothelioma I thought, why me? I didn’t know anything about the disease but when I researched it I discovered that it mainly affected men in their 70s who had worked in heavy industries”
"I was exposed to asbestos while hanging out with my friends as a teenager. Now I have transferred to light duties as a police officer, a job I love. I can’t do the things I used to, like do a full shift on the beat, but work is the one thing that keeps me going.
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.
I want to make more people aware of this disease. It’s not just old men who get mesothelioma. Young men and women who have never worked in industry can also contract it too, with the same devastating effects.”
Specialist Asbestos Claim Lawyers
Thompsons Solicitors, The Legal Line's Lawyers, who specialise in asbestos cases dealt with Cheryl’s claim for compensation.
John Hall, Cheryl's Solicitor, 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”
Cheryl is an inspirational woman who continues to fight the disease while continuing to work in a challenging role as a police officer. She has to be admired for her courage. Her case was not straightforward but we were determined to win her battle to obtain compensation.”
Click on the following link to read an article published about this case in The Islington Gazette.
Claiming Compensation
If you or a member of your family has been affected by an asbestos related illness, our personal injury lawyers may be able to help. Contact The Legal Line on 0800 0328511 for sympathetic, cost free advice and assistance, or complete an online compensation claim enquiry form.
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