UK Grandad Sues Shipbuilders
A UK man is suing shipbuilders Swan Hunter for upto £800,000.
Raymond Thomas Shanks, of Monkseaton, was given 18 months to live after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2005 when he was 59. Just two years after this, his son Michael died of non-Hodgkin't lymphoma at 28.
Shanks says that he had pledged his son before death that he would continue to work in order to support his widowed daughter-in-law and young grandchildren. However, doctors asked him to prepare for the worst and he had to stop work after this.
"I wanted to carry on working, save some money and fulfil my promise to my son, but all that changed in 2005," Shanks said. "That's what I'm fighting for. It's not just about the money, it's about my daughter-in-law and my two grandchildren."
Mr Shanks, who had emigrated to Australia in 1983, returned to the UK with family and friends after the demise of his son. Shanks was doing a construction business in Australia. His son Michael, who grew up there, became ill in 2001 and eventually died in his father's arm.
Shank claims that he was exposed to asbestos when he was working as an electrician apprentice with Swan Hunter from 1963 to 1969. Though the company has admitted the liability, they still dispute the amount of compensation.
"There is an abundance of evidence that he would have been able to continue actively in his role well beyond his 65th birthday," said Matthias Kelly, the QC of the company.
Mr. Shank also demands for the expense of his relocation back to the UK which includes the costs of his new home and traveling expense from Australia to Britain.
In case Shank wins the compensation he is seeking, it will be one of the highest awards ever been received by somebody in an asbestos-related case in the UK.
