One County Durham widow was recently awarded personal injury compensation after her husband passed away due to the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma.
York St John University senior chemistry lecturer Jim Sellwood taught chemistry from 1963 to 1975. His laboratory experiments and lectures often made use of materials that had asbestos in them. He did so whilst following the 1967-published textbook entitled ‘Chemistry: Collected Experiments.’
Mr Sellwood received his mesothelioma diagnosis back in 2008. A scant nine months later he had passed away. His widow Mary then made a personal injury claim against the University which resulted in a substantial compensation award.
Commenting that the settlement would never bring her husband back, Mrs Sellwood was nevertheless pleased that the conditions that had led to her husband’s death were being acknowledged by the organisation he had worked for in life.
One of Mrs Sellwood’s personal injury lawyers remarked that there had been needless exposure to dangerous asbestos dusk to the employer’s workers. Moreover he stated they had done so whilst neglecting to provide any protection. Only now was the negligence that led to such devastating consequences being felt.
One York St John University spokesperson commented on the particulars of the case. The spokesperson stated that the University has and always will take the health and safety of its students and staff quite seriously. The spokesperson also expressed the firm’s satisfaction regarding the lack of any of present day asbestos exposure risks at the University.
Medical experts say that mesothelioma, which is a particularly aggressive form of lung cancer, has been linked to asbestos exposure in construction and demolition workers. Other professions that come into close contact with asbestos-related materials also share this risk of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma diagnosis.