A FAMILY is desperately calling on anyone who can help prove more should have been done to prevent their step-father’s death.

Josephine Gardner and her daughter Susan Neal were devastated when Josephine’s husband Edward was diagnosed with a type of lung cancer called mesothelioma in January 2016.

The 89-year-old’s health deteriorated rapidly and he died less than three months later on April 12.

An inquest at the East London Coroner’s Court in Walthamstow last summer concluded Mr Gardner’s death was asbestos-related.

But Mrs Gardner claims when her husband, or Ted as he was better known, handled the deadly dust during his long career as a hospital heating engineer, he was never given any protective masks or clothing.

The family believe the three hospitals where Mr Gardner was made most vulnerable to potential asbestos-related illnesses are the old Claybury Hospital in Woodford Green, old King George’s Hospital in Newbury Park, and Goodmayes Hospital. 

Although Claybury Hospital is now a luxury housing estate and the King George site was moved to Goodmayes in 1995, the 91-year-old and her daughter are still desperate for answers.

Mrs Neal, 61, of Romford, said: “Ted’s illness took hold so quickly that there was little time to get answers while he was alive.

“Now that he’s dead, he can’t tell his own story.

“But we believe his death could’ve been prevented and other people who worked in similar conditions to him could still be at risk.

“That’s why we desperately need one of his colleagues at these hospitals to come forward and help us prove it.”

Although Mrs Gardner also worked at Goodmayes Hospital, where she first met her husband in the laundry room, her word her husband was put at risk is not enough.

Mrs Neal added: “Ted would always tell my mum how the pipes were full of asbestos, and how he handled them every day.

“She says he was never given any protection – it just wasn’t done in those days.

“Ted had dementia and was in a care home for the last year of his life, which was incredibly distressing for my mum.

“But his cancer diagnosis made an already painful situation so much worse.

“Our chances are incredibly slim unless someone who worked with him can help us.

“My mum just wants justice, and if we won a case, she would have the money to make sure she can spend the rest of her days in their marital home in Dagenham.”

Industrial disease specialist at Irwin Mitchell who is representing the family Lacey St James said: “Mesothelioma is an extremely aggressive type of cancer that is caused by asbestos exposure decades before symptoms develop. 

“We often see cases like Edward’s where, unfortunately, victims were unaware they were battling the disease until the very end of their lives.

We need the help of his former colleagues and urge them to come forward with any information about the working conditions at these hospitals during the times Edward was working at them.”

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust who manage the new King George’s Hospital site refused to comment on the case.

North East London Foundation Trust who manages Goodmayes Hospital has also been contacted for comment.