Asbestos worker started in teens

I agree that this is just another sad episode. But I hope, less of these will be happening in the future. Tragedy started 30 years back. And probably there are more cases that are dormant as of yet. That thought is pretty scary. Read on from Nadia Jefferson-Brown for The Press

ANOTHER victim has been claimed by York’s asbestos time bomb.

An inquest heard how Keith Wright was just a teenager when he joined York Carriageworks as an apprentice, and he spent more than 30 years as a coach builder – during which time he was exposed to asbestos dust.

Born in York in 1949, he died at the home he shared with his wife, Ruth, on April 24 this year.

Mrs Wright, a school bursar, said in a statement that her husband stayed at the works until it closed, before joining a Wakefield firm until 2005.

He was fit and healthy until December that year when he developed chest problems. He was diagnosed with asbestos-related malignant mesothelioma in 2005.

Surgery was considered, but he chose to have chemotherapy. His condition remained quite stable until 2007, said Mrs Wright, but he grew weaker towards the end of that year and his condition rapidly deteriorated from Easter 2008. Reading from medical statements, deputy coroner Jonathan Leach told the inquest at Sentinel House, Peasholme Green, in York, that his death was a result of the malignant mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that can develop many decades after exposure to asbestos dust. York-based Corries Solicitors, which dealt with and settled Mr Wright’s claim for compensation from his employers, provided the inquest with a witness statement signed by Mr Wright in April 2006 following his diagnosis.

In the document, he outlined his work history, explaining how he started work at the York Carriageworks in Easter 1965 as an apprentice.

He described working in the repair shop and being exposed to blue asbestos, as well as working in various parts of the carriageworks at different times, where he also came into contact with asbestos.

Mr Leach recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease, as a result of asbestos-related malignant mesothelioma which was caused by exposure to asbestos.

Speaking after the inquest, campaigner Paul Cooper, a former union leader at the carriageworks, paid tribute to Mr Wright.

“I knew Keith from when he started as an apprentice. He was a lovely lad. He played football and the guitar. He was pretty good.”

Describing him as “a very forthright and upright man”, he said: “From what I heard from his close colleagues and friends, he dealt with his diagnosis extremely well. He was a very strong character.”

Mr Cooper said he believed about 110 former workers at York Carriageworks had now died from asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma.

“It is just another shocking episode,” he said of Mr Wright’s death.


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