Worker Diagnosed With Mesothelioma

A former Newcastle under Lyme hotel worker, who has been diagnosed with the deadly disease Mesothelioma, has appealed to former colleagues to help a legal claim against the employers who exposed him to asbestos.

Colin Holstein, who now lives in Darlington, celebrated his 61st birthday on September 1st after working in the hotel trade for 32 years, particularly in old buildings with large boiler rooms, often containing asbestos lagging.

He was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in December 2009, nine months after symptoms first appeared. He had most recently been working as a driver but has been forced into early retirement by his illness.

Mr Holstein believes that his exposure to asbestos may have occurred whilst working in the dusty cellars and boiler rooms at the Clayton Lodge Hotel, Newcastle under Lyme, from 1972 to 1976.

He has now instructed Roger Maddocks, partner and industrial illness specialist at Irwin Mitchell, to investigate a legal claim against his former employers.

Mr Holstein said: “There was pipework running throughout the basement at the Clayton Lodge Hotel, all of which was lagged in what appeared to be asbestos. It was all at head height, almost entirely in a poor state of repair, deteriorating rapidly, which meant that the atmosphere there was very dusty.

“You never think anything of it at the time, you just get on with your job. I certainly never expected it would come back to haunt me so many years later. My symptoms first appeared in March 2009 and my health has been getting worse since then – I have had four courses of chemotherapy which gave me lots of side effects but did not cure the disease.

“I now have fluid gathering on my lungs again, which is causing me to be incredibly short of breath.”

Roger Maddocks added: “Cases such as Mr Holstein’s, in which people have been made gravely ill from exposure to asbestos without setting foot anywhere near a shipyard, are sadly becoming more common.

“Though exposure from heavy industry is more prevalent, this is another example of exactly how deadly asbestos can be, in any environment and in almost any conditions.

“We are looking for anyone who may have worked at this hotel at around the same time as Mr Holstein.”

If anyone has any information which may help Mr Holstein’s case please contact Roger Maddocks on 0191 279 0095.