THE WIDOW of an engineer who died of asbestos-related cancer is appealing for help from former Maudslay Motor Company workers.
In December last year, Linda Butler’s husband Stanley died aged 77 from mesothelioma – an aggressive and terminal lung cancer which can be caused by exposure to asbestos dust and fibres.
Mrs Butler is now appealing to anyone who worked for Maudslay Motor Company at its Parkside factory in Coventry or The Great Alne works near Alcester from 1960 through to the 1990s to provide evidence to support her industrial disease compensation claim.
Mrs Butler says her husband was an active, fit and healthy man, a keen gardener and a seasoned traveller.
It is suspected Mr Butler was exposed to asbestos while employed at the company’s Great Alne works, which closed during the 1990s.
“When Stanley was diagnosed with mesothelioma he expressed concern for his former work colleagues,” she said.
“He told me part of the work that took place involved the filing of asbestos brake linings.
“He said the procedure produced a lot of dust and there had been concern among the staff about the dust levels.
“The company was forced to carry out air quality inspections,” she said.
Birchall Blackburn Law and The National Asbestos Helpline are helping Mrs Butler make an industrial disease compensation claim.
She added: “Stanley was decorating our family’s kitchen and hall but by the autumn he had grown so weak he couldn’t get up the stairs to bed.
“He died before Christmas.”
Maudslay Motor Company manufactured lorry parts and Mr Butler worked there as an engineer.
The Great Alne factory was opened during the Second World War to avoid the Coventry air raids.
Jan Garvey from the National Asbestos Helpline says: “Mesothelioma is a cruel and aggressive lung cancer.
“To watch someone you love deteriorate so quickly must be heart breaking.”
Anyone with information about the working conditions and asbestos at the factory are asked to call Craig Howell from Birchall Blackburn Law on 01244 684 475 or Jan Garvey at the National Asbestos Helpline on 0800 043 6635.
