Heartbreaking book tells stories of asbestos victims in Clydebank

'Asbestos and Clydebank' brings together those who've suffered long-term exposure to the fatal material.

Author: Callum McQuadePublished 14th Oct 2022

Victims of asbestos in Clydebank are sharing their heartbreaking stories in a new tell-all book.

It has been developed by Clydebank Asbestos Group (CAG) and Digby Brown Solicitors and details how it affects sufferers and their families.

"I could have probably accepted it more if it was my own body"

Laura Evans is just 33 years old and was diagnosed with mesothelioma - a cancer that often develops in the lungs because of long term exposure to asbestos.

She told Clyde 1: "It hurts because the cancer was caused by something preventable.

"I could have probably accepted it more if it was my own body or my genes, but the fact it was caused by me going to school is hard to take.

"I've been subjected to a cancer growing up that I am now going to have to live with for the rest of my life."

West Dunbartonshire often has one of the highest numbers of asbestos related conditions because of the shipbuilding industry in the 20th century.

"I started going to a lot of funerals of guys who were younger than me"

Jimmy McFarlane worked as a heating engineer in the 1960s and 1970s before being diagnosed with pleural plaques which makes him short of breath at times.

He said: "I was surrounded by asbestos all the time because I would pull out a boiler, pull the asbestos off, fix it and someone else would replace it.

"Rumours started to go about the trade that people were dying from asbestos.

"We even heard that Clydebank wives were dying as they would wash their husband's overalls and develop asbestosis.

"I started going to a lot of funerals of guys who were younger than me and I thought I better get checked out."

Fraser Simpson is Head of Industrial Disease at Digby Brown and said: "The vision for the book was commendable because it rightly – and finally – places the spotlight on real people and their communities to give them the recognition they deserve.

"Asbestos and Clydebank therefore is not just interesting or informative reading material – it is a vital social document that I hope will be a catalyst for positive action to improve the future.”

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