June 24th, 2005

A 32-year-old man from Leicester in the UK has died after he inhaled asbestos dust from his father’s work clothes as a toddler. Barry Welch was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer, last year and is now thought to be the youngest Brit to have died from this cancer. The father of three had been battling with the cancer for a year. His father had worked for a UK power station in the 1970s, and it is thought that Barry breathed in the asbestos from the clothes that his dad wore to work.

Barry’s widow said, "He was a loving, caring man who would do anything for anyone. He was everything to me. It seems so unfair." The UK law firm, Irwin Mitchell, is now seeking compensation for Mrs. Welch, and is looking for people that worked with Barry’s father in the 1970s at the power plant.

It was revealed that Roger Bugby, Barry’s father, would come home in dust covered clothes, and his wife would brush the clothes down in the house to get rid of dust from them. This is how Barry became exposed to the dust on a daily basis. Children are more prone to get mesothelioma than adults; so early exposure poses additional dangers. Barry has already been pursuing a claim for this exposure.

Barry Welch made a statement last year after being diagnosed with the cancer, stating, "I haven’t really come to terms with the fact that I am going to die and leave behind my wife and three children because of this disease. It seems so unfair that my life will be cut short even though I never knowingly came into contact or worked with asbestos. I am an innocent victim."