My work history begins with construction back in the late 70s
where I did some labouring work, mainly with refurbishments and some extensions, mostly on private housing.
I did that for several years and then I trained to become a carpenter
so I then progressed onto roofing works.
I think that I was probably exposed to asbestos in a number of different or on a number of different sites,
certainly from stripping out old buildings.
Like a lot of people, I was actually short of breath.
To cut a long story short, I went to the doctor, saw the practice nurse, they called another doctor
and they said go straight down for an x-ray, which I did.
As soon as I got home, the hospital was on the phone telling me I had to go straight to A&E
I went straight to A&E that same day, they kept me in overnight, I saw five different doctors
and in 2016, I went for keyhole surgery at Heartlands Hospital and that was sent off to the pathlab
and finally it was confirmed in September of 2016
that I have epithelioid mesothelioma.
The prognosis was nine months, possibly 12 months with standard chemotherapy treatments.
My immediate family is my daughter and she was with me when they gave the diagnosis
and I think she was more in shock than I was because I had researched and knew a little bit about mesothelioma
so I was expecting to be told that.
My fiancee, who happens to be a nurse, she was very good at supporting me
without trying to worry me.
I saw a surgeon first having had the prognosis
and he discusssed the Mars 2 trial with me, which is a randomised trial
where I either have chemotherapy or surgery.
But the computer decides which route you go down.
Unusually, he did actually offer me surgery outside of the trial.
I thought about that, although I'd more or less made up my mind there and then
and I decided to go with surgery initially.
I'm now earmarked for a number of other trials and indeed new trials are being developed all the time.
I've outlived the original prognosis, which is a good thing.
Because I have scans every three months, it's what they call watch and wait. Well, the waiting's over now
because we now know that the mesothelioma's growing again.
So, the future is still very uncertain.
I'm angry that I've got this because
the law was not really made clear, PPE didn't, as far as I know, really exist for dealing with asbestos.
It wasn't taken seriously in the early years in the 70s and 80s.
Asbestos exposure is not an isolated problem and is not somebody else's problem.
It's something that we all have to be aware of and that we all have to deal with.
The responsibility on the shoulders of employers is significant.
I would ask the question what are you doing to help protect your employees and the employees of the future?