Mesothelioma compensation scheme ‘a great step forward’

After a two-year fight, mesothelioma sufferer Ian Goodwin finally got a result last week when the States Assembly took the landmark decision that a compensation system should be in operation from January 2021.

Mr Goodwin, 62, who has mesothelioma, the aggressive lung cancer caused my asbestos exposure, was recently told by his doctor that he had less than a year to live.

He had accepted that any scheme would come too late for him, but was campaigning on behalf of future victims.

He called the States decision ‘a great step forward’, even though he would have liked to have seen an earlier timeframe.

The success means he can now focus on making the most of his remaining time.

‘You can’t dwell on what’s going to happen because we know what’s going to happen, but I’ve just got to use the time now to enjoy what I’ve got and enjoy what I can do, whether that just means going down to one of the car parks and watching the surf roll in or whether I manage to go away to the UK or Jersey for a day.

‘That would be wonderful, but we shall see.’

He wanted to thank his family, including his wife and 82-year-old mother, for all their support, and Deputy Matt Fallaize, who took the campaign into the States Assembly.

Mr Goodwin’s mother had promised him that she would have continued his fight for a compensation scheme after his passing, if the States had turned it down.

He also wanted to say thank you to all the members of the public who had given him a pat on the back.

‘It’s been great. Obviously, they saw my picture in the Press. Especially when I was up at the hospital, I had a lot of people come forward and say congratulations on what you’ve been doing and getting it through, and out and about a lot of people have recognised me and said well done for taking on the States and getting something to happen fast.’

It is generally accepted that Guernsey’s government was much slower to react than other jurisdictions in regulating and banning the use of asbestos when its hazards were realised.

This meant that workers like Mr Goodwin, who was a storeman at the old Le Riches Cash ‘n’ Carry in the Bouet, were oblivious to the toxic fibres in their workplace.

It is believed that in the next decade there will be more people diagnosed with mesothelioma, because it is the nature of the disease to lie dormant for years.

Mr Goodwin has called for an ‘asbestos register’ to be established in Guernsey, where businesses are obligated to keep checks on any asbestos inside or outside their premises.

It is considered inevitable that there is still a lot of asbestos in Guernsey, and Mr Goodwin does not want other people to face a premature death.