Family of Benfleet man who died of an asbestos cancer pleads with former workmates for information

The family of a Benfleet man who has died of an asbestos-related cancer are pleading with his former workmates to come forward and help them find out how he contracted the disease.

Keith Philip Rix, aged 82, died in January last year at the Fair Havens Hospice in Southend. He had only been admitted two days earlier after being treated at Southend Hospital, and had been diagnosed 18 months earlier.

Mr Rix died of a particularly aggressive form of mesothelioma, which is always associated with having been in contact with asbestos. The material was used in cladding and insulation, but its dangers were recognized during the 1980s and it is now a banned substance.

The disease always takes some time before symptoms appear. From 1963 until 1965 Mr Rix was employed by Cape Insulation & Asbestos Products, it is believed as a sheet metal worker, and it is thought that this is the most likely source of his disease.

He leaves a widow, Mrs Grace Agnes Rix and two children, Tony and Christine. They are devastated at his loss and desperate to learn how he can have contracted the disease.

The family’s lawyer is Martyn Hayward of Ashtons Legal, a specialist in asbestos-related disease.

‘It’s important that we track down the source of the asbestos from which Mr Rix died, both for the sake of his family and in the interests of others,’ Martyn Hayward explains.

‘The best way we have of finding evidence of Mr Rix’s working conditions at the time is to ask his old workmates.

‘So we hope the name or a picture of Mr Rix might jog memories. His family would be so grateful to hear from anybody who worked with him at Cape Insulation & Asbestos at the time, and who may be able to provide further information.’

Martyn Hayward can be contacted at Martyn.Hayward@ashtonslegal.co.uk, or on 01223 431112.