Family of girl unknowingly uncovered to poison in her own residence win six-figure sum

The household of a grandmother who was unknowingly uncovered to lethal asbestos in her council home have received a big compensation payout.

Despite her considerations, Scottish gran Christobel Grant, 76, was assured by her landlords that the asbestos in her dwelling was secure, however she tragically died from a uncommon type of most cancers attributable to the poisonous fibres.

After an extended battle, her household has lastly obtained some consolation, successful a six-figure sum from West Lothian Council, who owned the home, in a landmark authorized case in Scotland. Her daughter Isobel Grant stated: “My mum should have still been here and the council failed to protect her and keep her safe. She knew there was asbestos in the house but was told it was ‘safe’ asbestos now we know there’s no such thing.”

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Isobel added: “It makes me angry that her granddaughters have been deprived of her. She doted on them and they adored her. She was so fit and healthy but within months she was dead. The disease took everything from her.” This is the primary case in Scotland the place a sufferer has been uncovered to asbestos not from working in heavy industries, however in her own residence.

Christobel handed away on April 26, 2019, simply 5 months after docs advised her she had peritoneal mesothelioma. This uncommon most cancers, typically present in ship employees from Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Glasgow, comes from inhaling asbestos fibres and may have an effect on the lungs or different physique elements just like the abdomen or coronary heart.

She first got here into contact with these harmful fibres years in the past at her dwelling in Linlithgow, West Lothian, the place she lived till she died. The fibres stayed hidden in her physique, inflicting harm over time till she began feeling sick in November 2018.

Daughter Isobel, a trainer, is fearful that many others may need been uncovered in the identical means and is asking the Scottish authorities to verify properties in Scotland for these lethal fibres. She shared: “My mum was actually match. She by no means smoked or drank, she exercised and ate effectively. She was 76 however you’d by no means have identified that as she was in such good condition.

“We had gone to celebrate her birthday we always went for afternoon tea but this time she said she just wasn’t up to it and didn’t feel like eating. Within a few weeks her stomach had ballooned. She looked about six months pregnant. I had to take her to hospital and they drained litres of fluid from her stomach.”

The grandmother was recognized with stage 4 peritoneal mesothelioma and handed away at dwelling in April 2019.

Isobel remembered the cabinets at dwelling had cabinets comprised of asbestos. She recalled: “When I used to be youthful mum would all the time inform us to not bang the cabinet doorways as they had been actually heavy and the cabinets and her dishes had been all the time getting coated in mud.

“She had reported this so many times to West Lothian council and they had told her the shelves were made from asbestos but it was safe and she should just paint over them. They were crumbling and the asbestos was coming out onto the plates and everything but they told her to just paint over them with normal paint so that’s what she did.

“After a couple of months the issue would simply come again. She was very home proud and a proud council tenant. She did not wish to carry disgrace on the council or make a fuss.”

In 2006, the council updated all the kitchens on the estate. Isobel said that while the builders wore full protective gear, her parents weren’t given any safety measures or moved out.

Isobel added: “The quantity of asbestos within the homes was very obvious in the truth that after they got here to take the kitchens out the blokes had been all in hazmat fits they usually had showers out the again. My mum and pop weren’t even decanted out of the home. They had been simply advised to arrange camp in the lounge which was proper subsequent door.”

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