Brave Claimant continues to live life to the full

Mr Parsons was born in 1948 and lives in the Midlands with his wife.  He has two daughters and grandchildren.

Mr Parsons has worked since the age of 15 where he obtained his first of only two jobs in his career with Espley-Tyas (formerly Coleman & Tyas) as a decorator.  It was here that Mr Parsons was first exposed to asbestos when he worked rubbing down guttering and soil pipes made from asbestos cement.  He gained further exposure to asbestos dust when he worked on a one-off job at Midland Shires Farmers where roofers were replacing the existing roof with asbestos sheets.  The dust from the sheets carried over to where Mr Parsons was working.

Mr Parsons then began working for his current employer in 1974 with a small group of decorators.  Again, he spent his days working on gutters with asbestos cement.  It was only 15 years ago that he was provided with a protective mask to carry out his work more safely.

Up until his diagnosis, Mr Parsons was a healthy man who never smoked and had no underlying medical conditions.  In December 2007 following medical examinations, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma and had to spend Christmas in hospital to receive treatment.

Mr Parsons is very motivated and has not let the diagnosis deter him from continuing to lead as normal a life as possible and has bravely continued to work following his treatment which included surgery and numerous courses of chemotherapy.

His wife says that he would often get bored following time off from work and would love to go back once the holiday was over.

The Parsons were keen travellers and liked holidaying in the Greek Islands but unfortunately, the complexity and expense (some £500!) of obtaining insurance for Mr Parsons has prevented them from going away in recent months but receipt of compensation will allow them to do this.

The Case

Mr Parsons contacted us in October 2008 and a claim was issued in January 2009 by Mr Parsons for damages from both Espley-Tyas Construction Ltd and his current employers for the exposure to asbestos dust which lead to Mr Parsons contracting mesothelioma in December 2007.

The case was brought as the Defendants were in contravention of the provisions of various Acts and Regulations.

The case was brought on a “no win, no fee” basis to prevent the Parsons from having to worry about the costs of bringing an action.

Due to the seriousness of the case including loss of earnings and suffering caused by the illness, he was due significant damages.

However, the insurers tried to claim that the causation of the mesothelioma was “de minimus” meaning it was so small that it was inconsequential to the diagnosis.

The case was booked to go to trial in March of this year but eventually the claim settled and Mr Parsons received £125,000 from his employer, £30,000+ from the Government and £10,000+ for IIDB and AA which is continuing to be paid.

Notes

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

We are a specialist personal injury law firm.  We have been handling claims for industrial disease for over 30 years.  Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims.  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 pledge to donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  Click here to find out 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 find out about our reported cases.  We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Click here to 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 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).

According to the British Lung Foundation, 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 British Lung Foundation, supported by John Pickering and Partners LLP, launched the first Action Mesothelioma Day on 27th February 2006, 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 working with asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

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