Widow fears husband exposed to fatal asbesos fibres at Birmingham hospital

Jan 15 2012 by Anuji Varma, Sunday Mercury

A HEARTBROKEN widow has told how her carpenter husband could have contracted his fatal asbestos-related cancer at a Birmingham hospital.

Trevor Hilton, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, died in March 2011 from mesothelioma, aged 79.

His wife Margaret, 78, believes he may have been exposed to the killer fibres when he worked in Selly Oak Hospital.

She also fears that he came into contact with asbestos at the now dissolved Granville Tin Plate Company, and the Birmingham Ministry of Works.

Now the mum of two has launched a legal battle to pinpoint exactly where Trevor came into contact with the lethal fibres.

And she is hoping that some of her husband’s former colleagues, at all three sites, may be able to provide vital information.

Margaret said: “Trevor and I had been married for more than 55 years and the entire family miss him terribly.

“When we were told about his diagnosis we were shocked.

“The disease took him from us so very quickly, and he suffered a great deal in the last months of his life.

“My husband worked hard all his life and to know that his work was ultimately responsible for his death is hard to bear.