According to one recent newspaper article, the Ministry of Defence is poised to pay out a million pounds in personal injury compensation to the families of three workers who suffered fatally from mesothelioma, an asbestos related disease.
According to work accident claims specialists writing for the Mirror newspaper, all three of the victims had come into contact with the deadly airborne fibres whilst they had been growing up at military bases as children. Mesothelioma, which is incurable, claimed the life of one of the victims at the age of just fifty three – Richard Rouse, who resided in Debden, Essex, at an RAF base. Mr Rouse was a native of Winchester, in Hants, prior to his death.
Personal injury claims specialists remarked that Mr Rouse had slept next to a radiator as a child that had been covered in asbestos dust. It was also understood that Mr Rouse would routinely hide in cupboards that contained pipes which had been insulated with asbestos during games of ‘hide and seek’ as a child as well.
The father of two, who enjoyed a long and successful career in the army before retiring at the rank of colonel, was diagnosed with mesothelioma decades after his experiences as a child. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer, linked to asbestos exposure, that specifically targets the lining of the lungs.
Mr Rouse succumbed to mesothelioma in 2008. However, the MoD denied any liability for his ailment – until a High Court hearing decided in favour of Mr Rouse’s widow, Sally, and awarded her a sum of six figures in compenation for her husband’s death.
According to legal experts, Mrs Rouse expressed pleasure that the long, hard-fought battle for compensation had ended in victory for her and her family. She added that it was the wish of her husband to fight for compensation on his behalf.