Expert Asbestos-Related Disease Lawyers Investigating Exposure To Asbestos

A woman who spent her entire working life as a typist is seeking the help of local historians to establish how she may have come into contact with asbestos after she was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Gloria Johnstone, 74, who now lives in York, was diagnosed with the terminal cancer in 2013 and has now instructed expert asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate how she was exposed to the material decades ago.

Gloria’s career included a number of years working as a typist at the tax offices on North Road, Ripon, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

She told her legal team at Irwin Mitchell that the buildings she worked in dated from around the Second World War and that many of the buildings contained asbestos. Gloria believes she may have been exposed to the material when construction work and refurbishment was carried out on the buildings.

She recalls that the asbestos which made up the fabric of the building was often disturbed during the work, releasing the potentially deadly fibres and dust into the working atmosphere.

Mark Aldridge, a solicitor specialising in asbestos related disease cases at Irwin Mitchell, said:

Gloria said: “I am still struggling to come to terms with my diagnosis and am very worried about what the future holds for me. I recall a lot of work being done on the tax offices while I was working there and believe the dust distributed caused my mesothelioma.

“I hope local historians with knowledge of the buildings or anyone who worked on the development of the offices will come forward with the information my legal team needs. Hopefully, this information will provide me with the answers as to how I was exposed to the material and why more wasn’t done to protect me from the risks of asbestos exposure.”

If anyone can help us by providing information about the origins of these buildings or details of the construction work carried out at the site please contact Mark Aldridge at Irwin Mitchell on 0113 3946757 or email Mark.Aldridge@IrwinMitchell.com.