Hand-washing clothes [123rf]
Hand-washing clothes [123rf]

A woman in Britain who spent decades hand-washing her husband's dusty work clothes died just one week after being diagnosed with a rare cancer. Her family is now seeking answers, saying asbestos on the clothing may have been the cause.

According to the British newspaper The Mirror, Veronica Kidman, 72, died just one week after being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in January. Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer that develops in the lining surrounding organs such as the lungs and abdomen, and is closely linked to asbestos exposure.

Her family says Veronica was repeatedly exposed to asbestos dust over many years while hand-washing the work clothes of her husband, Ian Kidman, and that the exposure led to the cancer.

Ian worked as a field engineer for British telecommunications company BT from 1971 to 1989, visiting private homes, telephone exchanges and repair centers to service telephone lines and switchboards.

According to the family, Ian would come home each day with dust covering his clothes and hair. Veronica hand-washed those work clothes several times a week — and the garments were so heavily soiled that each wash sometimes had to be repeated three times.

The family believes asbestos may have contaminated Ian's work clothes while he worked in buildings insulated with asbestos-containing materials or handled products that contained asbestos.

Veronica had suffered from abdominal pain, back pain, bloating and fatigue for about two years. A CT scan in December last year revealed a tumor in her abdomen, and she was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma on Jan. 8 this year. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she died in hospital one week later.

Her daughter, Becky Ewing, said her mother had always been bright and full of energy before suddenly complaining of severe fatigue. "We didn't even have time to come to terms with the diagnosis before we had to say goodbye," she said.

Ewing added that if her father were still alive, he would have been devastated to learn his work may have contributed to her mother's illness. "But it wasn't his fault," she said. "Workers back then should have been properly protected."

A specialist asbestos disease lawyer representing the family said cases of mesothelioma caused by secondary asbestos exposure — through washing contaminated work clothes — are on the rise, and the victims are mostly women.

The lawyer added that testimony from colleagues who worked alongside Ian could provide crucial clues in establishing how Veronica was exposed. The family is currently seeking information from former coworkers who were employed at the telephone exchanges where Ian worked.

BT Group said it extends its deepest condolences over Kidman's death, but added that it had not yet received any legal claim from the family and that it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further.


bbo@heraldcorp.com