Young Mother of Two Felled By Asbestos Mesothelioma, UK Inquest Told

February 23, 2010

Kettering, UK When a mother of two in the UK died of asbestos mesothelioma at the age of 43, an inquest into her death revealed that she had been exposed to asbestos as a child through her father's work clothes, which she used to help launder.



Tracey Carpenter was "a keen sportswoman who enjoyed squash and badminton," her partner said earlier this month in a statement read by coroner Anne Pember during court proceedings.



"She was very fit and did bodybuilding until she was 25 years old. In February 2008 she started to have some pain in her right side, and in February 2009 we were playing squash together when she complained of a really bad pain in her side which resulted in her going to the doctors.



"Initially it was thought she had a sports muscle injury but she was sent for more tests and was diagnosed with mesothelioma. This was a great shock. We didn't know anything about the illness."



The 2/19/10 edition of the Northants Evening Telegraph summarized proceedings at an inquest into the death of Carpenter, held the day before at Kettering Magistrates Court. A statement written by Carpenter before she died detailed probable exposure to asbestos fibers in her past.



Carpenter wrote that her father, Charles Fairey, labored as a crane driver at a British Steel plant from 1956 through 1980. He died that same year at the age of 56. No cause was given for his death. However, Carpenter remembered her father arriving home from his job wearing dusty clothing, which she would help launder as a child.



Asbestos lawsuits representing Carpenter's estate have also been in contact with Clifford Gunn, an individual who worked with Carpenter's father and who was also diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma.



Those who work in an industrial setting in close confines with asbestos fibers are often diagnosed with and die from asbestos mesothelioma, and it is not uncommon for family members to be exposed to asbestos fibers carried home on workers' clothes or on upholstery in the family car.



During the inquest into Tracey Carpenter's death, Coroner Pember stated, "[Carpenter] was only 43 years old and, sadly having been exposed to asbestos when the dangers were not known, developed a horrendous disease for which there is no cure."