“On 29 March 2024 I ran the Victoria Park Half Marathon in memory of my Dad.
Dad was slim and healthy. He enjoyed mile-long walks into his seventies; he travelled on his own to Spain, Africa and America and would always enjoy a swim in the sea if there were a beach nearby.
He loved playing sudoku and writing his blog; his last entry was a few days before he died, and was one of the few things he could still enjoy in his last few months.
He attributed his rude health to the mantra “everything in moderation”. He ate healthily, reduced his alcohol consumption, gave up smoking in the 1980s and went for a walk every day. My family and I assumed he’d live to his 80s or even 90s.
Sadly, his health suddenly deteriorated in May 2023, he received a mesothelioma diagnosis in July 2023. He died on 1 September 2023, one week after his first immunotherapy treatment.
I’d never heard of mesothelioma until Dad’s diagnosis. We don’t know where he was exposed to it, although we have some theories: from a building site whilst working for my Grandad’s firm, or from one of the old university buildings he lectured in.
What we do know is that asbestos sits in your lungs forever and can cause mesothelioma decades later. You can have the disease for years without symptoms or detection, and the survival rate is low because it’s only detected towards the end of life, once everything else is eliminated.
The process of the diagnosis was long, traumatic, and clumsy. We couldn’t save Dad, so I’d like to raise awareness of this awful cancer and encourage people who’ve been exposed to asbestos to seek a diagnosis, so they can live a longer life than our dad.”
