DIY SOS

Well, perhaps SOS is a bit OTT - it wasn’t an emergency, but we have been fully occupied with DIY for the last few days….Not at home, but in Bristol where we have been helping son Jack with painting and decorating, flat pack furniture assembly and fixing, decisions about flooring and providing a sherpa service to transport heavy items.  Fit and strong as Jack is, there are still some things that need more that one pair of hands to construct and fix, or more than two wheels to transport.  We were happy to provide support in both respects.  In return, Jack will help with DIY at our house sometime later this year.


We’ll be back in Bristol again very soon for a Wride family get together to spring clean Steve’s mum’s house and cut back/tidy up the garden…..I wonder whether we can persuade everyone to come back here and do the same at our house.  We’ve been out and about and staying away from home so much these last few weeks, that only basic jobs have been done in addition to packing, unpacking and repacking.  


A friend asked whether I was enjoying putting my feet up now I’m “retired” which made me laugh - our feet have hardly touched the ground since the end of March and it looks like life will carry on at a similar pace for the rest of April, most of May and up to mid-June when Steve has his next assessment. However, although I finished work nearly three weeks ago, there is still paperwork to deal with. Amongst the letters waiting for us at home last night was one from my occupational pension scheme confirming that my pension and voluntary early leaving compensation benefits have been authorised - which is great, except that they have made a mistake about the date of my last day of service. Ho hum - another thing to sort out…..


With no word from Steve’s legal team, the jury’s still out on whether the damages case will go forward as planned in early September or will be withdrawn.  Not much point in getting stressed about it in either event.  I know we have done everything we can in terms of going through the evidence with a fine tooth comb to highlight all the records of asbestos in the building where we believe Steve was exposed whilst doing some demolition work as a student.  


In fact, the last systematic review of all the disclosed documents revealed that asbestos insulation board (AIB) was used under all the windows in the building in question. Although now sealed/encapsulated to minimize the risk of fibres being released through accidental damage, this safety measure was not put in place until 2002, long after Steve’s six years as a student in these rooms with exposed AIB panels. School children, teachers and support staff have developed mesothelioma through exposure in similar circumstances.  Perhaps we should consider making a damages claim on that basis, if the current case is withdrawn….


No matter, the sun is shining and it’s a special weekend for two dear friends - Happy birthday Sally for today and Ian for Monday - enjoy your celebrations!

suspicious minds and a happy ending under a super moon

For a change, this isn’t about Steve and mesothelioma, me and my soon-to-be-finished job, or photography for that matter.  It’s about Mandy, a lady with special needs and mobility issues, who lives in sheltered housing about half a mile from us. We had not met Mandy until last night, when our evening was interrupted by an unexpected knock on the front door.  


When I opened the door, after apologizing for any inconvenience, a complete stranger explained that a lady was having problems after taking her dog for a walk in the park at the end of our street. He said he had taken the dog home for her, but was having difficulties helping the lady because she couldn’t walk very well and he wasn’t strong enough to support her weight. 


When questioned how we could help, he asked whether I could spare £3.50 for a taxi to take her home.  I admit it, I thought it was a scam - just a way of extracting cash from a gullible stranger.  Although tempted to shut the door on him, instead I called his bluff and offered to give her a lift home. He seemed genuinely relieved, so I followed him to the end of the street where a figure was huddled up against the park gates, clearly in distress. 


The lady, Mandy, had taken her small dog for a walk in the sunshine that afternoon. The effort had tired her out and she had fallen asleep in the park and woken up in the dark.  The man, a neighbour, had gone looking for her when she failed to return home and found her very cold and disorientated in the park, having lost her shoes.  


Back at the house, Steve’s initial reaction on hearing this story was like mine - it was a confidence trick.  But when he heard the full details, he put on his coat, got into the car and managed to reverse to the end of the street between closely parked vehicles so that she didn’t have to walk any distance.  Even with two of us supporting her, it wasn’t an easy job to get her into the car.  A few minutes later, she was delivered safely home where her neighbour Nick would look after her.


I sat in the passenger seat when we drove home.  I could still feel the cold from Mandy’s body, even through a warm coat.  I shudder to think what would have happened to her, had her neighbour Nick not bothered to go out looking for his missing friend.  I don’t know how many doors he had knocked on asking for help before ours. What would have happened to her, had our suspicious minds prompted us to shut the door on Nick rather than believing his story?  


It struck me that one day, we could easily be put in this position - needing help from a stranger if Steve suddenly found himself having serious breathing difficulties some distance from home or transport. If that time ever comes, I hope the person we approach will be a good Samaritan.  


Heading home, we couldn’t fail to miss the huge super moon shining brightly low in the sky over Oxford. What a wonderful sight!  We would have missed it, had we not been prized out of the comfort zone of home in response to Mandy’s predicament.  Good to have a happy ending!

a legal landmark!

A decision in the Supreme Court today brings good news for mesothelioma victims who developed the disease as a result of relatively low levels of exposure to asbestos.


The decision relates to damages claims by two victims of the disease, one exposed to asbestos dust whilst at school, the other whilst working as a secretary in a packaging factory.  Although the defendants in both cases did not deny that asbestos exposure had occurred, they appealed against compensation awarded by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they should only be liable if responsible for causing exposure at a level which “at least doubled the risk” of developing mesothelioma in later years. 


Today the seven Supreme Court justices unanimously dismissed the defendants appeals, rejecting the argument that claimants should show that their asbestos exposure doubled the risk of mesothelioma.  The Court ruled that whether exposure was too insignificant to be taken into account was a matter for the trial judge based on the facts of each particular case.  


Commenting on the decision, once legal expert in the field said  


“This ruling is a positive step towards proper acknowledgement of the risks that asbestos can pose in schools and other public buildings, even if the amount of fibres which pupils, teachers and others come into contact with is relatively small.

The risks posed by the toxic fibres have been shown to be far greater in children’s lungs rather than those which are fully-developed, meaning school pupils are more susceptible to the dangers of asbestos.

We hope that this ruling - and its implications over what ‘low-level’ exposure can lead to - will lead to a step change in how the hazardous material’s presence in schools is viewed and hopefully lead to its eventual removal from all sites.”

Given that there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos, I think this decision is a great victory for common sense.  It may also help Steve’s case, given our belief that he was exposed to asbestos dust whilst a student in an educational building, demolishing walls to create open plan studios to earn a bit of cash over the Christmas vacation. We wait to see what Steve’s legal team thinks….