Family Appeals For Help From Former Colleagues To Help Gain Justice

The widow of a retired heating engineer who died of asbestos-related disease is appealing to her husband’s former colleagues in Essex to help her gain justice regarding his death.

Roy Rydon died aged 80, just two months after he was first diagnosed with mesothelioma – a cancer of the lining the of the lung most commonly associated with exposure to asbestos materials.

Following his death, his wife Norma – who he was married to for 21 years – instructed asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell’s London office to investigate his case and help her gain answers as to how the illness emerged.

Now, as part of their ongoing investigations, the legal specialists are keen to hear from anyone who worked alongside Roy at various locations across the county, including Essex County Council.

Alexia Kapranos, the specialist lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing Norma, said: “This is sadly yet another terrible case which highlights the tragic impact that asbestos exposure can have, with Roy developing a particularly aggressive form of mesothelioma many years after his contact with the material is thought to have occurred.

“We are determined to help Roy’s family get answers about the condition which led to his death and as part of our work would appreciate more details regarding whether he was exposed to asbestos whilst working for any of the companies in Essex he was employed by. If anyone would be able to help us it would be hugely appreciated.”

Roy grew up in Hackney but moved to Wickford, Essex, in the 1960s where he worked as a heating design engineer for JW Coward Ltd, which was based in Anchor Street, Chelmsford.

In the 1970s he moved to become a contracts manager dealing with building services installation at Hinton Jones Ltd.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Roy was employed in the building services department at Essex County Council and controlled building services for new and old buildings.

In all three roles Roy would often have to go inside boiler houses, many at the time would have been insulated with asbestos.

He was diagnosed with the most aggressive form of mesothelioma in July 2015 and died in September 2015. An inquest confirmed the cause of his death was an industrial-caused ‘metastatic sarcomatoid mesothelioma’.

Norma, 70, said: “When more started to become known about the dangers of asbestos, Roy started to worry that he would get this dreadful disease because of the type of work he had done.

“Almost three years on it remains hard to believe that Roy is no longer with us and I still miss him so much every day. It was awful to see the impact that mesothelioma had on him, particularly the speed at which his condition deteriorated.

“We would be hugely grateful to anyone who can help us get the answers we believe we deserve regarding Roy’s death.”

Anyone with information which could help this case is asked to contact Alexia Kapranos at Irwin Mitchell’s London office on 0207 421 3903 or email alexia.kapranos@irwinmitchell.com.

Read more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in handling asbestos-related disease cases.