A SWINDON asbestos lawyer called for a specialist mesothelioma nurse to be posted at the Great Western Hospital.

Jennifer Seavor of Royds Withy King made the plea as those who had lost relatives to the asbestos cancer met for a memorial event in Queen’s Park. The ceremony saw more than a dozen white doves released into the skies.

Experienced lawyer Miss Seavor said: “I think Swindon would really benefit from a specialist mesothelioma nurse at GWH. I hope some of you here today will join me in campaigning and fighting for this.”

Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer commonly caused by exposure to asbestos. In the past it has been branded the Swindon Disease, because of the number of former GWR workers affected by the cancer.

Miss Seavor of Royds Withy King, which organised the Queen’s Park event, said: “I think mesothelioma is sometimes seen as a problem of the past.”

But the disease affected people of all ages, she said. Her oldest client seeking compensation from former employers was an 89-year-old man who thought he’d escaped the cancer that killed his friends. The youngest client she had represented was a 19-year-old woman.

“Asbestos doesn’t discriminate,” she said. “Swindon with its proud industrial heritage bears a disproportionate burden of asbestos illnesses.”

The mesothelioma garden, where the memorial event was held, was opened 15 years ago by then mayor Stan Pajak.

Yesterday, Coun Pajak said of mesothelioma: “It’s not a disease of the past. It’s very much a disease of now.”

Lesley Lambert’s husband died aged 71: “It’s one cancer they can’t do anything about. It was a shock when our husbands were diagnosed. They were all fit, healthy men.”

Julien Lloyd, 80, whose husband Clifford died of the lung cancer, praised the day’s organisers Royds Withy King – who took on her husband’s case: “I’m so pleased my husband had his day in court and his voice heard.”

She added: “I know the man I lost would want me to live my life.”

More than 7,000 people were diagnosed with mesothelioma between 2014 and 2017. But few know about the cancer, which affects the lungs and can leave sufferers with shortness of breath and coughing up fluid.

Miss Seavor said: “Asbestos has killed thousands and thousands of people in this country, yet people still haven’t heard of mesothelioma.”

A support group for those diagnosed with mesothelioma, their carers and families, meets on the last Friday of every month at the Christ Church Community Centre, Old Town, 3pm-5pm.