# asbestos and Cancer



## ricasso (Mar 3, 2012)

Some of the the older faces on here may remember me, I haven't posted for a while so let me explain.
Ive recently been diagnosed with Mesothelioma which is an incurable form of Cancer caused by exposure to Asbestos dust, this was NOT contracted during explorations but 30 years ago while working on the railway, 30 years being the period of time it takes to do its work.

As Ive said, there is NO CURE, NO HAPPY ENDING, I might get another couple of years if Im lucky, Im currently undergoing treatment but this will only add a few months.

The point of this post is PLEASE PLEASE us a mask when entering buildings with a risk of Asbestos, as my consulant said it only takes one breath to inhale enough dust that you cant see to do the job, it falls from roofs and a scuffed foot will stir it up.

please dont become another statistic in 30 years time.

thank you.


----------



## krela (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm really sad to hear that Ricasso. 

There's always been a page on the dangers of asbestos here...

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/index.php?do=asbestos


----------



## highcannons (Mar 3, 2012)

That is sad to hear. I do hope you make the most of things the best you can. I worked with all sorts of asbestos in the building trade supply industry in the 60's and seem to have got away with it. By the time I had exposure in the fire service education had grown.
More recently I came upon an old Sunday School which was heaving in it. There's plenty about and you are right to warn 'splorers of the risks. A lot of masks will fit away in a pocket and be ready should you need them. It ain't worth the risk otherwise.


----------



## krela (Mar 3, 2012)

It's not as simple as just wearing a mask. A mask will do nothing to protect you from the fibres on your clothing that you will carry home with you and then breath in long after you've taken your mask off. But obviously any precautions are better than none. It's also worth noting that a plain old dusk mask will offer you zero protection, you need a P1 or P2 class mask, and preferably a half face one for it to be of any use.


----------



## night crawler (Mar 3, 2012)

Sorry to hear that mate. Make the most of it. That stuff worries me and there are places at Fairmile I was not allowed to go until it had been cleared. Watching the guys clear the stuff in the Polly tunnels made you feel for them. I wish you well.


----------



## ricasso (Mar 3, 2012)

very many thanks for the kind words, the one ray of light about all this is that I have a top solicitor on the case ( recommended by my keyworker from the Oncology Dept) who has a proven track record and specialises in this particular type, he gets paid from a separate fund so no cost to me. 

the potential payout is comfortably into 6 figures and will allow me to totally enjoy my time left, do all the jobs around the house to bring it up to top order and provide for my wife and two children, things like loss of earnings between now ( Im 53 ) and retirement age is another lump sum Im entitled to.

apparently the knowledge of the danger has been known since the 1930s so there is no excuse for any company to try to wriggle out of it.

as has been correctly pointed out a mask alone will not provide adequate protection, only what the professionals use comes anywhere near.

thankfully the government take a very dim view these days of company's who try to cop out of their responsibility's regarding liability so the result should come sooner rather than later.


----------



## urban phantom (Mar 3, 2012)

im verry sorry mate thanks for the advise


----------



## oldscrote (Mar 4, 2012)

Real sorry to hear about your tragedy,must admit about 30 years ago I used to use asbestos string to hold exhaust pipes onto old bangers that I once owned and occasionally wonder if if I have cocked it up somewhere along the line.Best wishes to you and those you love.

Spike


----------



## Engineer (Mar 4, 2012)

Sorry to hear this Mike, wish you all the best.


----------



## klempner69 (Mar 4, 2012)

So sorry to hear of your news Ric,and its sobering to hear you are also the same age as myself..none of us know what lies round the corner.

Stu


----------



## krela (Mar 4, 2012)

Just know that you have friends here, I like to think that we are more than just names on the internet, we are people too and many of us care. Whilst you may not have had your lethal exposure to asbestos whilst exploring it is a very sobering reminder of one of the many dangers of this 'hobby' and is potentially personal to us all. It's easy to be complacent but like you have pointed out the consequences may not become real for another 20+ years, which for many people seems a long way away but in the grand scheme of things really isn't.

Like I said previously my thoughts and best wishes go out to you and your family and if there's anything we can do either me personally or as a community just shout, publicly or via PM. Whatever works.


----------



## PaulPowers (Mar 4, 2012)

Live each day like it' going to be your last 

that is really shit news, I wish you all the best and I hope you can enjoy what time you have left


----------



## John_D (Mar 4, 2012)

Very sorry to hear this mate. Asbestosis is something I have worried about as in the 1970's I worked for a company that made drying ovens for the printing industry, which were initially lined with 3" of asbestos based board that was cut up in the workshop with a circular saw! While not personally working in the workshop, I did visit it on a daily basis in my capacity as project engineer. That was the best part of 40 years ago now, so hopefully I got away with it, not so sure of the people who were working with the stuff on a daily basis though :0(


----------



## flyboys90 (Mar 4, 2012)

It is very sad to hear this Ricasso and I wish you well, thank goodness you have a good solictor,my father was diagnosed with this in the 1960,s [from lagging pipes in the shipyards] and got nothing, sweet jack shit!


----------



## Curious Dragon (Mar 4, 2012)

I may not be a long-term member yet and I have not crossed paths with a lot of the older serving members but none the less, reading this thread has filled me with a sadness for you but also a great amount of respect. 
You sound like you have thought everything through and you know what life is going to be about for you (I know a lot of us bumble through and never really strive to reach our true potential) 

This is a stark and honest reminder to protect the precious life that we have but also... not to let fear hold you back. Do everything you want to do, really truely live and breathe. Every minute that passes is another minute gone and one that cannot be rerun. 

Ricasso, thank you for coming back to talk with us and for sharing everything that you have.
May I wish you the best and I hope you exceed your diagnosis and realise all your dreams. May you be comfortable and happy and continue to give your family very many happy memories.


----------



## TK421 (Mar 4, 2012)

Hello mate, I am sorry very sorry to hear your sad news, and your warning is well heeded my friend.


----------



## historymadd (Mar 4, 2012)

hi there 

sorry to hear about bud and good luck

when i was a child we played with the stuff when they broke up the old steam engines at cohens in northants like many have been exposed car brakes, working as tradesman now we have to suit up etc 

yet even blokes who do the removal pop out for a fag break with suits on beats me why they bother ????

cheers 

hm


----------



## Dirus_Strictus (Mar 4, 2012)

Ricasso,

I am very sorry to hear your sad news. From past experience I have some understanding of what you are going through, so I would like to reiterate your warning to others about the dangers by posting the following:- 

The railways used large amounts of asbestos, and although the old BR was one of the more enlightened employers when it came to monitoring/removal etc., there was and still is an awful lot of the stuff about in unknown places. I worked for BR Research for 20 odd years and one of my old workmates eventually became head of the Eastern Region asbestos monitoring unit - a job that he carried out unflinchingly until his death. He had a passion for his job that at the time was somewhat baffling: always lecturing anybody he saw on the dangers inherent in the job, sometimes in what appeared to be a very over bearing manner when people seemed not to take his comments seriously. This was in the early 70's and it appeared to him that he was fighting an uphill battle to educate people - the thought that one tiny breath could be a death sentence is something, that even today some people find difficult to comprehend.

On his death in the late 80's from Mesothelioma, the horrible truth that he had carried with him since he became knowledgeable in the dangers of asbestos became apparent to us all. He left all his old workmates a letter explaining that, as a 16 year old post boy at the Doncaster Plant Works, he and the other youngsters used to spend many lunch breaks having 'snowball fights' in the Work's main asbestos store. Hence his desire to educate people.

Sadly the story has an even darker ending. Eighteen months after his death his dear wife (they met whilst he was on his mail collecting duties and she was a 16 year old trainee typist working in the Plant typing pool) was also diagnosed with Mesothelioma. To me the saddest part of this very sad event, is the fact that my friend's widow died before she received any of her husband's industrial injury compensation. Some of that money would have made her last 18 months so different. The Coroner's findings indicated that contamination from her future husband's work clothes, when she came into contact with him during the day, could have been the original source of the asbestos dust. 

Thankfully due to now expert solicitors with adequate funding, compensation claims for asbestos related illnesses are dealt with far more quickly and sensitively, but this is a poor substitute for life.

In the last few years there have been an increasing number of family members diagnosed with Mesothelioma, where contamination can only have come from their spouses working clothes - there are at least two cases in Armley , Leeds. As has already been stated by Krela, as one walks through a contaminated building our clothing is picking up all types of fibre and dust. This is just waiting to be released in your car, by your kids as they brush past you or your wife as she shakes out the dirty washing prior to loading the machine! 

So you're young and single and it won't happen to you, or I'm being over dramatic. Well all I know is that in most of the old buildings beloved by members of this Forum, the asbestos is mainly exposed, in a very friable state and vandalism has resulted in it being spread all over the place. By all means wear a mask, but it will not protect you from the fibres that are released into the interior of your car as you chuck it onto the dash board and disturb your clothes as you drive home - with the kids in the back.

I have spent all my working life in industries that when I started work in 1961, used tons of asbestos products and chemicals that are now banned from commercial use. Where the exchange of information across industries was so slow that warning signs were missed or ignored and workers needlessly suffered. Modern technology has vastly improved our understanding and dissemination of facts about dangerous chemicals and substances. 

Unfortunately there will be many more cases like Ricasso's before the asbestos episode ends. Just make sure that your dear ones don't become part of the statistics due to your foolhardiness. A few blurry photographs is poor reward for the death of a loved one thirty odd years down the line.


----------



## ricasso (Mar 4, 2012)

Curious Dragon said:


> I may not be a long-term member yet and I have not crossed paths with a lot of the older serving members but none the less, reading this thread has filled me with a sadness for you but also a great amount of respect.
> You sound like you have thought everything through and you know what life is going to be about for you (I know a lot of us bumble through and never really strive to reach our true potential)
> 
> This is a stark and honest reminder to protect the precious life that we have but also... not to let fear hold you back. Do everything you want to do, really truely live and breathe. Every minute that passes is another minute gone and one that cannot be rerun.
> ...



oh CD! thank you so much for your wonderful words, reading them its hard to hold back the tears....thank you


----------



## Krypton (Mar 4, 2012)

I am really sad to hear this 

I recognise your name, yes, and i wish you the best of british for the future.

I am really honest saying here that i have never taken asbestos seriously, but when something like this happens, it really brings it closer to home.

I am really going to be extra careful now, and i wish other people to do the same too.


----------



## UrbanX (Mar 4, 2012)

Mate, I don't know what to say. 

It's a subject a lot of bulls*it is spoken about, and TBH we're all probably waaay to complacent about it, all of the time. I'm so so sorry to hear of your news.


----------



## Landsker (Mar 4, 2012)

So sorry to hear this Ricasso, I think at times we can forget how dangerous this stuff is.


----------



## scribble (Mar 4, 2012)

I'm so sorry. Good for you for using your experience to help others. People often think they're invulnerable - "it'll never happen to me". If your post just makes one explorer think twice, you'll have done a huge service. I wish you all the best in your battle against this awful disease.


----------



## RedDave (Mar 4, 2012)

Very sorry to hear this. Best wishes.


----------



## rectory-rat (Mar 4, 2012)

So very sorry to hear this, I wish you and your family the very best, and hope you get the absolute most out of the time you have left.

As many have said, lots of us are complacent, including myself at times, and your shared thoughts are very sobering. I for one will be purchasing a much more professional mask for my next explore. 

As I say, best wishes to you, thank you for sharing, and good luck with the legal process

-RR


----------



## the|td4 (Mar 5, 2012)

Terrible news mate my father recently lost a good friend due to his involvement with asbestos in the shipyards.

The guy who had the condition was telling me how they used to ball it up (the asbestos) and throw it at each other like snowballs where he worked, very scary now that it's known it's dangerous - I sometimes wonder (and hope) that there is no modern equivalent lurking around.

Our thoughts are with you and your family in these stressful times :-(


----------



## Lightbuoy (Mar 5, 2012)

Hey Ric,

Really am sorry to hear about your personal situation. Takes real courage to say what's what publically too. Know that we've never met, however my thoughts and prayers are with you and your Family.

Very sobering, and it makes me think about all those old places I've been too where I didn't wear a mask (know that's not where you picked it up from). As Krela said, a mask doesn't make you invincible, however it's got to help.

All the best, and hope that you will stay positive and healthy as long as possible.

Blessings,

Lb.


----------



## GavinJ (Mar 5, 2012)

krela said:


> It's also worth noting that a plain old dusk mask will offer you zero protection, you need a P1 or P2 class mask, and preferably a half face one for it to be of any use.



Sorry to correct you but my previous job was working for an asbestos removal contractor and the correct mask for asbestos exposure is in fact a P3.

I was also amazed by how much asbestos was around us in places that you would never expect to find it and it is worrying how much we may have come into contact with without even being aware of it.


----------



## Lady Muck (Mar 5, 2012)

So sorry to hear your sad news (
All the best for the time you do have Ricasso


----------



## chris (Mar 6, 2012)

Really sorry to hear that, and great respect for the way you're holding up


----------

