A poem about a little girl wanting to play with her sick father was spoken, wreaths were laid and tears were shed yesterday in gardens in Glasgow city centre.
About 150 people gathered in Provand’s Lordship Gardens to remember victims of asbestos-related diseases.
Clydeside Action on Asbestos (CAA) arranged the annual memorial and yesterday was the biggest turnout yet for one of its events.
It came amidst reports from the organisation that the number of people affected by asbestos-related diseases is increasing, despite being banned in 1999.
Speakers included MSP Anas Sarwar, Thompsons representative Laura Baine and Kevin Blyth, a consultant respiratory physician with a special interest in mesothelioma, the terminal cancer that is the result of direct contact with asbestos.
Mr Sarwar said: “The legacy of asbestos use in Scotland is appalling. I am committed to doing all I can to support those who are living with the consequences of bring exposed to asbestos.”
The CAA was set up in 1984 by victims who have been affected by related conditions and has been holding the memorial service for about 10 years. Phyllis Craig, who is now is at the helm of the charity, was very pleased with yesterday’s turnout.
“I think that today went very well”, she said. “It is so sad that we had almost 150 people here, and that is only a fraction of the people who have lost their lives and their families to a dreadful condition caused by asbestos exposure.
“The numbers aren’t going down, they’re increasing. We thank everyone for coming here, because our theme today is ‘hope’.
“With the work of Dr Kevin Blythe at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow – the research of which we are contributing to, because we believe in it so much – we hope we will actually find a cure.”
Laura Darling had travelled from Edinburgh to attend the service.
Her father James worked as a joiner installing asbestos boards in hospitals in the capital. After years of inhaling asbestos particles, mesothelioma lay dormant in his lungs. At the age of 76 he was diagnosed with the disease. A year after opting for a less aggressive form of treatment, he died.
“I was really struck by the little girl in the poem – that was me”, said Ms Harling. “My dad was stoic. His death affected me really badly – I had to get extensive counselling at the Maggie’s centre.
“I didn’t want to miss coming here. It’s something that isn’t going to go away. It’s in schools, affecting new generations of people.
“You have a certain degree of faith in your employer. They told my father it was the better stuff. There is no better asbestos – it’s all bad.”
Asbestos manufacturing in the west of Scotland began almost 140 years ago. Within a few decades, every ship made on the Clyde carried panels made with asbestos.
It was found to be a cheap option in providing heat insulation and became widely used by building contractors and housing associations, as well as in the construction of new schools and university and college buildings.
It has been banned in the European Union for more than a decade.
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