On August 27, 2008, Leigh Carlisle lost her two-year battle with mesothelioma. She was only 28 years old, making her one of the youngest victims on record to have ever died from the asbestos-related cancer.  Leigh was diagnosed with mesothelioma at the age of 26 after suffering from severe abdominal pains.  It took several years for doctors to arrive at Leigh’s diagnosis, and even after her death, medical professionals are baffled as to how she was exposed to the deadly material asbestos, which is the only proven cause of mesothelioma. 

In the majority of mesothelioma cases, the cancer takes 20 to 50 years to develop from the time of exposure to the point of diagnosis, meaning that Leigh’s death was most likely the result of her inhaling or ingesting asbestos particles as a small child.  Not long before her death, her attorney began to investigate the possibility that she could have contacted the disease at her primary school.  They are still awaiting a response to a Freedom of Information request about the buildings in which Leigh was taught as a child.

In addition to Leigh’s primary school falling under scrutiny, the route that she traveled everyday to get to school is also being investigated.  Leigh believed that she may have been exposed to asbestos as she passed by a factory yard on her walks to school.

“I used to take a short cut across a yard in Failsworth on my way to primary school,” explained Leigh in 2007. “I know that men working there cut asbestos sheets and handled asbestos materials in the yard, but I had no idea that by walking through the yard I could have inadvertently got cancer.”

Although the exact cause of her illness is still not confirmed, Leigh’s story has highlighted the cases of around 200 school workers from the United Kingdom who have died or are suffering from serious illnesses as a result of being exposed to asbestos in schools, and it is estimated that about 13,000 schools in the U.K. currently contain asbestos.  Asbestos was also widely used for school building projects in the United States and a shocking number of schools in the U.S. also presently contain asbestos. 

Because asbestos is an industrial material, and due to the long latency period between exposure and the development of mesothelioma, it has long been thought that the risks were exclusive to people born in the 1940s who worked as carpenters, loggers, shipyard workers, metal workers, electricians, and other occupations in various areas of construction.  However, with Leigh Carlisle’s passing, public safety officials are faced with the reality that asbestos-related diseases, including the deadly and incurable mesothelioma, do not discriminate when it comes to the age of its victims.  In addition, Leigh’s death serves as evidence that there is still much to be done when it comes to protecting children from asbestos. 

“Leigh had so much courage and strength - she was an inspiration to me and to others,” Leigh’s boyfriend, Michael Price, said. “Instead of flowers at her funeral, she said she wanted donations to the Oldham Cancer Support centre in Failsworth. Leigh would have liked to think that she helped the cancer centre to support other people.”

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 3:49 pm and is filed under Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.