6 April 2017
To mark the end of our Asbestos Awareness Week we have a touching story from a client, Mrs Margaret Dooks, who lost her husband to this terrible disease.
I married my husband Harry in 1960 at St Martins Church on North Road in Kingston upon Hull and we spent a happy 56 years together in our home in our home in West Hull. We have a daughter and grandson who Harry loved very much.
I met Harry when he was working for BOCM on Stoneferry next to the River Hull in the late 1950s. I was 19 years old and Harry was 29 years old. We were at a dance at Hull City Hall and let’s just say it was love at first sight.
Harry started working for BOCM at the age of 16 years in 1946 and worked there until he was made redundant in approximatively 1979. He was very loyal to the company and was one of the very last to leave when it eventually stopped production. He would joke and say “I locked the door and put the light out.”
Harry was a quiet and good natured man. He was the type of man that people came to if they had a problem or if something went wrong. He worked hard throughout his working life and finally retired in 1991.
Harry and I both enjoyed our retirement spending most of it together enjoying each other’s company. We were not lavish; we simply enjoyed the simple things such as popping out to the shops together, having lunch out together and day trips out in the car. Harry also enjoyed socialising at his local pub and enjoying the odd pint with friends, playing indoor bowls, darts and attending Beverley Races.
In the summer of 2015 Harry started to lose interest in everything and stopped wanting to go anywhere or see anyone; this was out of character for Harry. Harry’s health deteriorated rapidly in the latter part of 2015; he lost his appetite and would barely eat. In late December 2015 Harry was referred to a specialised who asked Harry if he had ever worked with asbestos to which I remember him clearly saying yes without hesitation. He said he had worked with it whilst employed by BOCM.
In early January 2016 Harry was diagnosed with Mesothelioma and died on the 10 March 2016 after a short but all I can describe as dreadful illness. Watching my otherwise fit and healthy albeit elderly husband of 56 years living out his final months in so much pain and suffering has had a lasting impact on me. I initially cared for him myself but in the end this got all too much for me and help was eventually provided.
Harry was a proud man who went to work every day to provide for his family; the asbestos he was exposed too whilst employed by BOCM has robbed me of Harry and the few more enjoyable years of retirement I could have had with him.
Mrs Margaret Dooks
