The number of deaths from asbestosrelated cancer in South Derbyshire is well above the national average, statistics have revealed.

Between January 2006 and December 2010, there were 23 deaths attributed to mesothelioma — a terminal cancer of the lung wall — in the area, the equivalent to 3.7 in every 100,000 people.

The average for England and Wales during the same period was 2.5 per 100,000 people.

From 2006 to 2010, 12 people died as a result of mesothelioma in East Staffordshire and nine in North West Leicestershire.

The figure has been released by the nonprofit campaign group the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

APIL president David Bott said: “More people die of mesothelioma in South Derbyshire per head of the population than in most other parts of the country.

“This is bad enough, but the number of men dying from this disease is expected to peak during the next five years and what many people don’t realise is that hundreds of sufferers across the UK cannot get the compensation they need to help them through the last days of their life.”

The reason for this is that the symptoms of the illness often do not emerge until decades after workers have come into contact with asbestos, during which time employers have often gone out of business and insurance documents have either been lost or destroyed.

That is the situation Sally Ward, of Repton, found herself in when her husband, Steve, died from mesothelioma at the age of just 49.

Mr Ward had come into contact with asbestos while working at a garage in the 1980s.

Since his death two years ago, his window has had to resign herself to the fact she may never get compensation as she has been unable to contact his employer’s insurer.

“If you can’t find that insurer you’re left like our family without compensation,” the 51-year-old said.

“It seems so unfair that some can get compensation purely because they have found the paperwork.

“I have lost my husband, at the end of the day, because of his work.”

Mrs Ward said the Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team was campaigning to get an employers’ liability insurance bureau set up as a central information point.

“So if they can’t find the insurers, like in my situation, then you can access the information,” she said.

Source: Burton Mail

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