Asbestos news
22/07/2011

Campaigner to use compensation to help fellow sufferers

A 71-year-old man, who is to claim medical negligence compensation after receiving what he claims was a "wrongful diagnosis" of his asbestosis, plans to use the money to help other fellow sufferers.
The retired boxer from North Belfast is awaiting a High Court hearing where he hopes to be awarded enough compensation to help other local people made ill as a result of asbestos exposure.
Asbestos Support Northern Ireland (ASNI) was founded by the claimant in an attempt to raise awareness and compensation for asbestosis sufferers in the region. The man has already used his own money to send another Belfast man for a consultation with an asbestos specialist in Liverpool and plans to do the same for a 78-year-old woman from West Belfast.
The Government has refused to fund the charity, stating that there are already competent doctors in Belfast. However, the claimant has disputed this after it took 11 years for his own condition to finally be diagnosed by a consultant in Liverpool.
The campaigner has the support of several politicians who have begun working on his behalf to question why people in Belfast can expect only £30,000 in compensation in comparison to the rest of the UK who are likely to receive around £130,000 from an asbestos claim.
If the claimant is successful in his compensation claim then his case could open the floodgates for fellow asbestosis sufferers to seek the compensation they are entitled to in order to help with care costs and future loss of earnings.