Through the lens of her father's battle with mesothelioma, a disease caused by exposure to asbestos, Charlotte Bailey explores the devastating impact of asbestos. She challenges the perception that asbestos is a relic of the past, but a thread that many still face today, decades after its dangers were acknowledged.
Asbestos remains in most UK schools and hospital trusts, and likely in more than 1.5m houses and flats—though the true number is unknown. Mesothelioma victims in the UK are increasingly likely to be teachers, nurses, musicians and accountants—like my dad—who are contracting the disease after working in crumbling, asbestos-filled buildings. Victims continue to confront illnesses that are impossible to cure, difficult to palliate and entirely preventable.
The documents revealed that, in 1969, Cape’s medical adviser accepted that mesothelioma could be caused by “short and possibly small” exposure and that “no type of asbestos proved innocent”. Yet for years the company continued to insist on their products’ safety.