Dying for Work

October 10, 2008

Ottawa, ON Like countless hundreds of men of his generation, Gilles started his working life as a young teenager. He learned a trade – he became a plumber and a pipefitter. Over the decades he was exposed to asbestos, with no knowledge of the health effects. He died of lung cancer, very possibly mesothelioma just 3 years after being diagnosed, barely having seen retirement.



"My father began working at the age of 16 for the family plumbing company," said his daughter Julie. "During that time he was working in both residential and commercial establishments. He was often asked to repair or replace boilers, furnaces and piping that were wrapped in asbestos. My father worked for numerous companies and in later years he began working in pulp and paper mills as a pipefitter. In those days, no health precautions were taken.



My father passed away 4 years ago, and I think it was about 2 and a half years earlier that he went to a clinic about a persistent cough. He was prescribed an inhaler because they thought he had bronchitis. This was in December. In January he returned to the clinic because his cough wasn't improving. They did another x-ray, and couldn't see anything.



In March he went back again, and this time the doctor sent him for a scan and a biopsy. They discovered that he had stage 3 lung cancer. So we applied for worker's compensation. It took a long time, and involved his seeing various doctors, but he was eventually diagnosed with asbestosis. They said he was exposed to asbestos, which of course he was, and one of his lungs was pretty much finished.



He underwent chemotherapy and radiation, and went into a partial remission for a few months. However the cancer returned and he was given more chemotherapy, but the cancer had spread, although he didn't know it.



My father collapsed on September 29th and was taken to a local Hospital. That evening I spoke to both the doctor and the nurses and asked what his prognosis was. They thought it could be heart related. On September 30th, my father was transferred to the hospital where he was being followed by his oncologist. When we arrived, my father was seen by an emergency doctor who took his file and told us that it didn't look good. He requested a cardiologist's opinion, who told us that my father was dying and there was nothing they could do. In the late afternoon my mother and I met with a palliative care doctor, who advised us that my father had hours to live: the cancer had spread and he had a pulmonary embolism. That same night my father passed away, September 30, 2004, at the age of 60. He was 57 when he was diagnosed."



So many people have come forward to LawyersandSettlements, after reading other people's experiences around asbestos exposure. Most people aren't aware that work they did 20 or 30 years ago could seriously and permanently impact their health.

But then the latency period for developing asbestosis and asbestos mesothelioma can be up to 20 years, and that's only an educated guess. In truth, a clear understanding of the disease is still evolving. Worse, the mineral is still widely used in roofing materials, textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials. In fact it's estimated that 1.3 million construction workers still face significant exposure to asbestos during renovations, demolitions, and asbestos removal, and more than 27 million workers were exposed to asbestos between 1940 and 1980.



If you or a loved one worked around asbestos for any length of time, you should be concerned. For Julie, all the knowledge in the world won't bring her father back, but his story could help save someone else.