Michael's plea for asbestos answers after diagnosis changes his life

ALEICESTERSHIRE man has spoken of the terminal diagnosis affecting his life decades after he says he was first exposed to asbestos.

- By TOM MACK

Michael Ross says the symptoms of the disease have changed the way he lives and believes he is now facing an “uncertain future”

Michael, from Birstall, was diagnosed with mesothelioma - a cancer of the lining of the lung - last year after suffering with breathlessness. The disease is most commonly associated with exposure to asbestos, often decades earlier.

The 84-year-old worked as a plumber’s mate in the 1960s for William Freer Limited in Leicester and believes the job exposed him to asbestos.

He said while working in boiler houses he was in close contact with lagged pipes and boilers, with the pipework’s insulation often damaged, meaning he had to frequently sweep up dust and debris.

Michael, who was married to his wife Valerie for 62 years until she died, began experiencing breathlessness and a persistent cough in August last year.