Daughters Issue Mother’s Day Plea To Former Colleagues

The daughters of a woman from Huddersfield who died from asbestos-related cancer are making a Mother’s Day plea to her former colleagues for information that could help them gain answers regarding how she developed the illness.

Jean Taylor, 71, from Slaithwaite, was told last September that she was suffering from mesothelioma – a cancer of the lining of the lungs most commonly associated to asbestos exposure decades previously.

After receiving the diagnosis, Jean instructed specialist asbestos-related disease lawyers at national firm Irwin Mitchell to investigate how she came to develop it.

Sadly, Jean passed away in December last year and her daughters Shelley Jackson and Linzi Haigh have now joined with the legal team to continue her search for answers.

Now, with their work ongoing, the legal experts are calling on anyone who worked with Jean at George Mallinson & Sons Ltd between 1970 and 1973 to come forward and shed light on whether exposure to asbestos may have taken place there.

Expert Opinion

“Sadly, Jean passed away just months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, and her family are desperate for answers as to how she developed the illness.

Through our initial investigations we have determined exposure may have taken place when Jean worked for this particular employer, but we now need more information to ensure that was the case. As such, we would be very grateful if anyone who recalls working with Jean or was at the company during the same period could come forward and provide detail about the conditions she would have faced.

Such information could prove vital in our efforts to ensure her family get the answers they seek regarding this terrible illness.”
Lucy Andrews - Associate Solicitor

This Mother’s Day has seen Irwin Mitchell join forces with mothers and daughters to tell the female side of the UK asbestos story that still claims the lives of 480 women every year.

Jean was just 21 when she began working for George Mallinson & Sons Ltd as a production clerk. Before her death, she told her legal team that she recalled the mill was a sprawling place with the production office being partitioned off from the weft room.

She reported that her day-to-day work took her into a range of areas of the site.  She would have to collect ammonia for the copier from the dye house, which was full of pressure pans and vats as well as pipework.

She would have to go into the mill daily to see what orders had come in.  Furthermore, as there was no kettle in the office for hot drinks, she would have to get hot water from an area close to two huge steam ovens.  This area was dusty and dirty, and pipes running into the ovens were covered in white and grey materials

Jean also recalled having to go through the boilerhouse every day to get to the car park when leaving work.  This was another warm, dirty and dusty place with lagged pipework.

Jean was married to husband Jeff for 50 years, and she was a grandmother-of-three as well as mother to Linzi and Shelley.  She first began suffering from symptoms, including shortness of breath, during a holiday to the Greek islands early last year, before receiving the devastating news that she had developed mesothelioma in September.

Discussing her mum’s diagnosis, Shelley said: “It was a huge shock when we found out that mum had mesothelioma.  We all took it really hard and we miss her terribly.

“While nothing will change what has happened, we are desperate to understand how this could have happened and whether the condition could be linked to mum’s working life. We would be very grateful if anyone with any information would come forward.”

Anyone with information which could assist with this case is asked to contact Lucy Andrews at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office on 0113 394 6782 or email lucy.andrews@irwinmitchell.com.

Find out more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in handling asbestos-related disease cases