‘When and how did my husband contract deadly mesothelioma?’

A widow has appealed for help in finding answers around her “absolutely wonderful” husband’s death after he died from mesothelioma.

John Warren contracted the deadly asbestos-related industrial disease during his working career, which began in the late 1950s, but its symptoms only became obvious in 2022.

John, a joiner and carpenter, passed away in September last year aged 79 after a rapid deterioration, which his wife Pamela describes as being “horrendous”.

Now Pamela has appealed to anyone who may have worked with John at two of his employers – Marley Tiles in Portsmouth and Portsmouth Council – in the 1960s to help answer her questions around how and when he was exposed to asbestos.

“When we discovered John had mesothelioma, we were shocked. It had been years since John has worked anywhere where he could have been exposed to asbestos, and he had retired at the age of 63,” says Pamela, who lived with her husband in Fareham.

“We just didn’t understand it. His symptoms came so quickly and his decline was extraordinarily quick. He was an absolutely wonderful man and I feel absolutely lost without him. I still have so many questions about how this has happened.

“I know it is a long time ago, but it would mean an incredible amount to me if anyone who worked with John could come forward with any information about when and how he contracted this horrible illness.”

John, who began his working life aged 15, had a long and varied career, which included making windows and working on luxury yachts, but it is his roles within Marley Tiles – where he worked from 1965 to 1966 - and in a workshop and housing maintenance at Portsmouth Council, between 1968 and 1970, where the asbestos exposure is thought to have occurred.

From enjoying a happy retirement filled with playing the piano, snorkelling on holiday – the couple loved going on cruises - and coastal path walking in Devon and Cornwall, John first went to his GP with a cough and pain in his side in 2022.

Within a year, he was in enormous pain, breathless and experienced severe fatigue. He lost a lot of weight through not wanting to eat, and needed the support of carers four times a day in his final weeks.

“There was absolutely no hint of anything when he was working, or in all the years since. John would have had no idea he was being exposed to something that would make his last months so cruel,” says Pamela.

“He kept himself so fit and healthy, but in the end he was so exhausted with no energy at all. His suffering was horrendous and it was absolutely awful to see him like that. I am still trying to come to terms with it.

“He died on our living room sofa – we were promised a hospital bed to help keep him comfortable at home as he deteriorated, we even moved furniture out of our living room waiting for it to arrive, but that never happened. I am still so angry and upset to think of his final weeks spent like that.

“If anyone can help us, I would be so pleased and so grateful to hear from them.”

Madelene Holdsworth, principal lawyer our the industrial disease team, is supporting Pamela in her search for answers.

“John worked hard all his life, unwittingly being exposed to asbestos during part of it which would then go on and cause him a cruel and untimely death. We want to support Pamela in understanding where and why this happened,” says Madelene.

“We would appeal to anyone who worked with John at either Marley Tiles or Portsmouth Council during this period, or has any information which may help us in our investigations, to get in touch. This would help Pamela greatly during a hugely traumatic time for her and her family, and would help us establish exactly what happened to her beloved husband.”

Anyone who has information that could assist can contact Ellie Andrews on ellie.andrews@slatergordon.uk