Story Denise Dion
Jeanette Hennessy-Wright knows that the statistics for mesothelioma suffers are grim but says that it should not be painted as a disease that everyone will die of in a short space of time.
“Hope is one thing it took me a while to find, but has been essential in helping me to stay on top of this disease at this time. Not everyone fits the stats, so ‘don’t give up without a fight’ would be my message to those newly diagnosed,” Jeanette said.
And there is little doubt that there will be more people diagnosed and that some of those will be in the local area.
Following its report last week, Hardie’s Fallout, the News Weekly, has been made aware of the deaths from mesothelioma, of two local tradesmen, from their widows.
The women, who wished to remain anonymous, have said that not only have other cases been diagnosed but believe, sadly, there will be many more to come.
Jeanette moved to Pambula Beach in the 60s with her family, as a six-year-old and it was there, as the family built their new home in Culgoa Crescent, adding an extension and then a shed, Jeanette had her first and only contact with James Hardie’s asbestos Coverline fibro sheeting.
Jeanette’s diagnosis was a terrible shock for her family but for her sisters who had also played with the asbestos offcuts, it meant the shadow of mesothelioma could fall over them too.
Carol Barrett still lives in Pambula, and said that one of the first things that she and sisters, Ruth Wright and Elva Wright did was to get tested.
“We’ve all been checked and had chest scans and all they can tell us is that there is nothing there at present,” Carol said.
But Carol has taken another step, knowing how dangerous the James Hardie asbestos product is and has done an asbestos removal course at Bega TAFE.
“We have asbestos in our home and are going to renovate. When Jeanette was diagnosed it was a spur to find out how to deal with it properly,” Carol said.
Carol is concerned though that amongst some of the older builders and tradesmen in the area, there is a cavalier attitude.
“A lot of the older builders say that they’ve handled it for years and that it’s no problem, but I know different. Jeanette never knew she had it until she had a cold,” Carol said.
Jeanette said: “Now that we all know how dangerous asbestos can be, no one can plead ignorance nor justify being careless or taking shortcuts. It is just not worth taking the risk.
“How would someone feel if one of their children were to contract this disease early in life due to their carelessness.
“Would they then reconsider whether it would have been worth the expense for the safe removal and disposal of the asbestos fibro sheeting and want the chance to do it differently?”
Jeanette believes that there needs to be some form of financial help to assist people in the safe removal and disposal of asbestos.
“While asbestos fibro sheeting remains on residential buildings in particular, future generations will continue to be exposed to asbestos and at risk of being struck down by mesothelioma,” Jeanette said.
It was Carol who found the receipt showing that the James Hardie asbestos product had been used when their parents had built their home in Pambula Beach.
After Jeanette contacted an asbestos diseases support group, a lawyer contacted her and successfully pursued a case for compensation from James Hardie on her behalf.
Jeanette said: “The compensation makes it possible for me to pay for the complementary medical treatments which I believe are crucial to my current good health.”
However, once people receive compensation, they are unable to access Medicare rebates for any medical treatment for mesothelioma.
Federal and State Governments have recently made loans to James Hardie to top up the asbestos compensation fund, but Jeanette would like to see the Federal Government playing a more pro-active role.
“There needs to be Government support for trials, with promising results to be fast tracked into mainstream treatment. Given that this disease has such a fast and deadly progression, people diagnosed today do not have time to wait for the current clearance process for emerging effective treatments to become generally available.
“The process can be overly bureaucratic for people with no other options.
“More funding is required for research as this is a disease which has still not reached its peak of identified cases.”
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