UK Man Receives Asbestos Compensation
Cornelius Doherty, a resident of Bristol, England, has been awarded £70,000 (about $116,000 in American currency) in compensation from his former employer after developing mesothelioma. Mr. Doherty was diagnosed with the rare cancer one year ago. Doherty is now 76 years old, and worked for over 40 years as a floor layer, during which time he was frequently exposed to asbestos. Doherty says he was not aware at the time that asbestos could pose health risks.
Doctors told Mr. Doherty that he only had 18 months to live after being diagnosed. Each day is now painful for him, and he is frequently short of breath. The day after he developed symptoms of breathlessness, he went to the hospital to be treated.
"When I went to the BRI the following day they took away three-and-a-half litres of fluid and that is when they diagnosed mesothelioma," he told reporters. "This disease has completely changed my life. It has got gradually worse and my chest has gradually tightened up. I am on stronger tablets now…My breathing has gone and now if I walk and talk, it takes it out of me. I can only walk short distances now.”
Doherty told reporters that he knew what asbestos was, but not how dangerous the toxic substance was. "Asbestos was there but we did not know the damage it could do…Some of the apprentices used to make snowballs out of it. No one knew it could harm us. We would not have done it if we had."