February 18th, 2005

A widow has spoken out after winning a compensation claim following the $30 million payout by Halliburton to 120 asbestos injury victims and their families. Deborah Johnson is amongst those receiving compensation, but sadly her husband, Stephen Johnson, will never know about the payout because he died from mesothelioma in 2002.

Stephen was aged just 54 when he died seven months after diagnosis. It was just a few days before the couple’s thirtieth wedding anniversary when he died. His widow spoke out after the compensation payouts were announced.

"He was a great dad, a good husband…I'd give every cent back if I could have him back - It's been a real hard road…After his surgery, he couldn't do anything - He dropped from 165 pounds to about 110 pounds and could breathe only with the help of oxygen.” She also added, referring to the manufacturers of asbestos “I'm angry they put a product out there that could cause cancer…You can't put a cap on someone's life.”

It is not yet known exactly how much each family got, but lawyers have stated that the average is around a quarter of a million for mesothelioma, and less for lung cancer. The thirty million payout to the 120 families is part of a multi billion dollar national settlement from Halliburton.