‘Where did I contract this fatal disease?’

Valerie Brown was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February last year, and was warned she may have 12 to 18 months to live – but thankfully, the grandmother-of-three continues to defy expectations and has not yet experienced the onset of the most traumatic symptoms of the aggressive lung cancer.

However, her mesothelioma diagnosis came as a “total shock” to 63-year-old Valerie, as she has spent her career working in roles including in the kitchen of the former Middlewood Hospital in Sheffield, as well as being a cleaner at Loxley College – which was the former Myers Grove Lower School where she also attended as a pupil – prior to its demolition.

Valerie, who also has three adult children with husband Ian, is now appealing for information to help her understand where she may have been exposed to the asbestos that could have led to her contracting mesothelioma – with the hospital and school being of particular interest.

As she fights to retain her independence, Valerie has undergone two courses of debilitating immunotherapy, and six rounds of chemotherapy. Her diagnosis has also caused her type two diabetes to develop into type one.

“I have never smoked, so it was a shock when I was told I had lung cancer. But when they said I had two pints of fluid on my lungs and it was mesothelioma, it was a total shock – I have never worked anywhere where I could think there would have been asbestos. I really have no idea how this could have happened,” says Valerie, who was still working as a cleaner when she was diagnosed, but has been on long-term sick leave since due to the tiredness and chest issues caused by her cancer.

“I have always just got on with things in my life, when challenges come, me and my husband just get on with it. That’s what I’m doing now, just trying to get on with my life as best I can. I still pick the grandchildren up from school round the corner, I like to go for a walk – but of course it’s a concern what the future may hold.”

Although Valerie says she has thought back over her working life – including working at the psychiatric unit Middlewood Hospital in the late 1970s, and her former secondary school, which was by then known as Loxley College, in the early 2000s – she still cannot think of where she may have come into contact with asbestos.

“It was such a shock because I just had no idea. I would really like to know, and if anyone has any information that could help me understand this, I’d be really grateful,” says Valerie.

Valerie is being supported by law firm Slater and Gordon, with specialist industrial disease solicitor Christopher Briggs acting on her behalf.

“Valerie’s work as a cook and cleaner are not ordinarily roles you would expect to be associated with mesothelioma – but unfortunately we are seeing a significant rise in the number of people being unknowingly exposed to asbestos through working in poorly maintained buildings, where they have been put at great risk while going about their daily jobs,” says Christopher.

“Valerie is valiantly getting on with her life as best she can, but of course the questions of ‘when, why and how’ are very important to her in understanding how she has contracted this cruel disease. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated by Valerie and her family, and we will do everything we can to support her in finding answers.”

Anyone who may have information to support Valerie can contact Christopher on Christopher.briggs@slatergordon.uk or 0330 995 5368.