A man who spent several decades rubbing down asbestos-lagged pipes in his job as a decorator has died of mesothelioma and his wife wants compensation from the companies that employed him and put him at risk, notes an article in the Manchester Evening News.

Carol Wilkinson, whose husband Trevor led an otherwise healthy life as a motorbike enthusiast until his diagnosis three years ago, is seeking £300,000 from four companies in Greater Manchester (England).

Wilkinson first visited his doctor in 2004 to complain of a respiratory infection that wouldn’t go away. He was subsequently diagnosed with mesothelioma and lived for almost three years after the diagnosis, thanks to several clinical trials being conducted at a nearby hospital. He died last month.

“Trevor was my best friend. He was always fit and healthy and lived for racing motorbikes,” said Carol Wilkinson. “We had big plans for our future. We were going to get a bike and ride around America.”

“I retired this week and he should have been here to share it with me. But now I’m on my own, wondering how to fill the void his death has left.”

The family’s solicitor, Pauline Chandler said: “Mesothelioma is increasingly claiming the lives of people in occupations outside the traditional heavy industries and there are more and more painters and decorators being affected.” Nearly 2,000 people die in Britain each year of mesothelioma.

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