Last Updated on May 20, 2024 by Dan
The family of an elderly man from South Wales are appealing for help from the public and his ex work colleagues after his death from mesothelioma.
Mr Vivian Jones died aged 85 from the asbestos related cancer on the 31st July 2016.
He had previously worked as a building surveyor and was only diagnosed one week before his death after having a fall in his assisted living accommodation.
The latency period for mesothelioma can be anything up to 50 years before symptoms of the disease emerge.
Unfortunately for Mr Jones, it was too late for him to establish where he was exposed to asbestos.
So, with the help of The National Asbestos Helpline and Birchall Blackburn Law, his family are appealing for help.
They are appealing to anyone who may have worked with Mr Jones and remembers there being asbestos dust so that they can make a compensation claim.
Mr Jones worked as a Surveyor for Woolaway Bungalows during the 1950’s on what are thought to be prefabricated homes built after the war.
He also worked as a building Surveyor in the architects departments for Port Talbot Council, Barry Council and Mid-Glamorgan Council from 1957 to the mid 1980’s.
His main work involved the refurbishment of and building of schools.
Most of his work was in the Barry area.
Projects included a conversion of The Drill Hall, a primary school in Wenvoe on Old Port Road, an extension to the Barry Memorial Hall, High Street Primary School in Barry and Barry Girls’ Grammar School.
Byron, Mr Jones’ son, said of his father, “I remember dad talking to me about asbestos when I was about 10-years-old. I can’t remember anything specific about the conversation, only that he had been exposed to asbestos and he warned me about the dangers. It seems unthinkable now that they would be allowed to work in an asbestos environment without safety equipment, but it happened even when employers were aware of the terrible risk.”
Industrial disease specialist and partner with Birchall Blackburn Law, Helen Bradley, said, “Mesothelioma takes a lifetime to develop and the people it is killing are usually retired, very sick and cannot always remember that far back in their lives. It makes it difficult to gather evidence for a case. It is vital that we can rely on witnesses who worked with the victims or within the same workplace. It helps us build a better picture of what happened to them. Otherwise hardworking men and women will get no justice and their families will have no help.”
National Asbestos Helpline representative, Jan Garvey, commented, “We’ve no doubt that Vivian Jones was exposed to asbestos, but that’s not enough. We need the help of his former council colleagues or any contractors who worked with him on building and refurbishment projects from the 1950s to the 1980s. They may have important information about the presence of asbestos and their help could make a huge difference to a family struggling with questions about why their father died.”
If you worked with Vivian Jones in the South Wales area from 1950 through to the 1980s or you know somebody who did, you should call Helen Bradley on 0161 238 5637 or email hxbradley@birchallblackburn.co.uk. Your details will remain confidential.
Source of article:- www.nationalasbestos.co.uk/news/family-appeal-for-help-after-the-death-of-father-from-mesothelioma/
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Published May 21, 2018