7:20am Wednesday 16th September 2009
By Ben Perrin
A HUSBAND paid tribute to his late wife following her death from an asbestos related disease.
John Sinnett, 57, of Kennedy Drive, Eldene, had known his beloved Linda, 58, since they were both aged six.
The mum-of-three, who had two grandchildren, contracted the disease Peritoneal Mesothelioma, despite never working in an asbestos exposed environment.
Care worker Linda, who was married to John for 35 years, tragically lost her cancer battle at the Prospect Hospice in Wroughton at 3.55am on July 14.
“She was full of spirit, “ said John.
“Linda was like the boxer Rocky. If the cancer knocked her down she would get up again and fight back. She was a loving woman who was very close to her family.”
Her daughter Kerry Mills, 38, also of Kennedy Drive, praised the staff at Prospect.
“Nothing was ever too much trouble,” she said. “They looked after her so well.
“If I could have it my way I’d rename it ‘Angel Hospice’.”
Kerry said her mum, who has a identical twin Patsy, had a great sense of humour who loved country music.
Linda’s inquest was held at the Civic Offices yesterday.
It heard she was exposed to asbestos while growing up as a young girl.
Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner David Ridley said this happened when her dad Ronald Garner had his dusty overalls washed by her mum Joan.
Ronald worked as a carpenter building coaches at the Great Western Railway Works during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He later worked at the Pressed Steel factory and John said his wife, who started to suffer health problems in 2003, would also wash the overalls.
During the hearing Mr Ridley said: “In all probability the washing was done in the same area as the kitchen.
“Come tea time he (Ronald) would come home, take his overalls off where plenty of asbestos fibres would be thrown into the same area.
“Consequently this would come into contact with the food and preparation areas and be ingested.”
Mr Ridley said Berkshire-born Linda died from an industrial disease.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma is the least common type of mesothelioma, appearing in only 30 per cent of diagnosed cases, which is up to 100 in the UK annually.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk