Mesothelioma diagnosis as a result of washing husbands clothes

It has been reported that the widow who is suffering from a terminal cancer believes that she contracted the disease by washing her husband’s overalls, which would be covered with asbestos.

Joan Reed has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a cancer affecting the lining of the lungs. She reportedly believes that it is as a result of washing her husband’s boiler suit and hugging him everyday.

Ms Reed from Middlesbrough, is aiming to prove that she developed mesothelioma through the exposure of asbestos from her husband Robert. It is reported that her husband worked as a shot blaster for Tees Marine Shotblasting Company Limited, which later became Rigblast Holding Limited, from around 1985 until the early 1990’s. Mr Reed would wear a blue boiler suit to work and his wife Joan would then wash it. Robert would reportedly wear the boiler suit for a few days until it became to dirty, and Joan would pick up the suit and fold it on the chair in their bedroom. Robert would also wear the boiler suit in the garden, as well as when he was sitting and having his tea after a days work. Joan would give her husband a kiss and hug every morning before he left for work and also when he came home, during which time he would still be wearing his overalls. Robert reportedly died in April 2009 from lung cancer and a brain tumour. Joan has undergone six cycles of chemotherapy and wants to see justice during her lifetime. She is certain that the only exposure to asbestos that she has had is through washing her husband’s work clothing.

Andrew Stinchcombe of Novum Law comments “this is another sad reminder that asbestos related disease can take many decades to develop. Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer of the lining of the lungs and on occasions can be contracted in cases of secondary exposure, where someone may have washed another loved ones work clothes, which may have been contaminated with asbestos dust”.

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