Asbestos death prompts lawsuit from widow

Posted 03/06/2009

The widow of a shipyard worker is taking legal action after claiming her husband died of an industrial disease.

Ted Parkins died of asbestos-related lung cancer two years ago at the age of 78, after being regularly exposed to the substance during his working life.

His 82-year-old widow Winifrid is now seeking compensation, as she believes the actions of his employers were “terrible”.

“He would come home with all over his hair,” she told the Evening Chronicle.

“It was just hanging off the pipes where he was working.”

Mrs Parkins said the cancer he later developed affected his quality of life significantly, as he could hardly breathe and stopped going out.

She added that the asbestos that clung to her husband could account for the fact she is now suffering from pleural plaques.

The case comes shortly after the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health warned that the UK’s death rate from mesothelioma – an asbestos-related condition – is the highest in the world.