Australian Actor Dies From Asbestos Cancer Mesothelioma
| 
| 
The Australian actor, Harold Hopkins, has died after a battle with the asbestos related cancer; mesothelioma. Hopkins had major roles in several classic Australian movies such as Gallipoli, Don’s Party and The Club. He passed away in Sydney at the age of 67 on 11th December 2011.
It appears that Mr Hopkins developed mesothelioma after working with asbestos sheeting as an apprentice carpenter in south-east Queensland in the early 1960s. He worked without protective masks or clothing and as a result inhaled asbestos fibres.
Asbestos related illnesses are caused by inhaling asbestos fibres. Exposure can lead to mesothelioma; a type of cancer that typically affects the lining of the lungs, scarring of the lungs and other respiratory problems. Asbestos is responsible for approximately 4,000 deaths every year, making it the biggest single cause of work related deaths in the UK.
Rowland Hill, Mr Hopkins’ brother in law said that: “He loved everything about (acting). He had a very healthy ego that kept him going back to it. But he was not arrogant. He was very much a man who followed his passions and interests.” Mr Hopkins’ family said he had “an exuberance for life.”
Contact details:
John Pickering and Partners LLP
Telephone: 0151 227 1214
E-mail: dn@johnpickering.co.uk
Website: www.johnpickering.co.uk
FREEPHONE: 0808 1440957
About John Pickering and Partners LLP
John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors
We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work. We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers. We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.
Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides. Find out more about what others have said about us.
John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.
The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).
More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015.
The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006. Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.
If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.
Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.
For more information about asbestos diseases-
For practical information and support concerning mesothelioma-
For more information about claiming for different types of asbestos disease-
Mesothelioma compensation claims
Lung cancer compensation claims
Asbestosis compensation claims
Pleural thickening compensation claims
For more an explanation about different types of asbestos conditions-