Asbestos Litigation

A widow from South Tyneside, UK, recently won £74,000 in compensation after her late husband died of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, the Shields Gazette reports.

George Combe, 69, worked as an apprentice at an engineering firm where he was allegedly exposed to asbestos. He reportedly died just four months after doctors told him he had developed mesothelioma.

"In a matter of months he went from a fit, healthy man, who was still able to work part-time and carry out jobs around the house, to receiving palliative care to help reduce his pain and to make him comfortable," Combe's widow, Marjorie, told the news source.

Prior to his death, Combe obtained the services of an asbestos law firm in order to begin his fight for compensation, the news provider said. When Combe died, Marjorie continued the fight and explained that she was "pleased" to win the compensation, despite the fact that it would not bring her husband back.

In addition to mesothelioma, asbestos exposure can cause other serious illnesses such as lung cancer and asbestosis. The World Health Organization estimates that such asbestos-related diseases kill approximately 107,000 people around the world each year.