Widow's warning to millions of Aussie homeowners after unthinkable tragedy
Kate Wilcockson lost her husband Steve to asbestos-related cancer complications in 2019. She's on a quest to prevent others from enduring the same fate.
Steve Wilcockson was exposed to asbestos at age 14, for just a few weeks over the Christmas holidays in 1965. Over five decades later, he woke up with a collapsed lung and shortly after that, he died.
From Liverpool in Sydney's southwest, Steve lost his battle with mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer linked to asbestos inhalation, in September, 2019. He spent the vast majority of his time alive without symptoms, leading a healthy lifestyle in which he was largely "quite fit and well".
He was just 72 years old at the time of his death. Cruelly, the same age at which his father also died with the disease, which he contracted as a result of exposure at the same refinery the pair worked at in the '60s. While his father spent many years at the site, Steve was only there a few short weeks.
But in the end, the outcome was the same.
Now, Steve's wife Kate is on a desperate mission to prevent other families from sharing in her heartache, hoping to raise as much awareness about the toxic substance as possible, ahead of National Asbestos Awareness Week which starts on Monday.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Kate said she wants her husband's death to serve as a reminder to all Australians to be aware of the devastating impacts asbestos can have on people and their families, with even brief exposure posing a serious health risk, particularly if the asbestos concentration is high.
Widow's warning to homeowners after unimaginable tragedy
Despite a complete ban more than 20 years ago, around 4,000 Australians die each year from asbestos-related diseases. "Anything built before 1990 is basically full of it," Kate told Yahoo. "I don't think people truly realise, and the concern now is for home renovations.
"People are doing their own remodelling, they're knocking in walls. If the property's built before 1990 — you can bet it's got asbestos in it. It's labelled on the sheeting, there is a stamp on it, but by the time you smash the wall and break into that sheeting you don't see it, and it's too late.
"You only have to breathe in the smallest amount of dust."
Kate explained how after Steve's lung collapsed in 2016, it took just three years for him to succumb to cancer-related complications. While initially, he responded well to a medical trial which Kate said likely afforded him extra time with family, his condition worsened afterwards and he soon developed a blood clot in his heart.
"He couldn't fly. He went on to blood thinners, and very quickly, his health, it did deteriorate," Kate said.
"His breathing became more and more laboured and he was limited in what he could do. In June, he had severe back pain and so we went back into hospital and they discovered the cancer had spread to his spine. He stayed and had radiation, and he did come home again, but he couldn't sit.
"We had a reclining chair and he could recline in that or in bed. So at least he could be in the family room and the grandchildren could visit him."
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While the family "managed for a couple weeks" in this way, soon after Steve again deteriorated, collapsing at home and landing back in hospital after suffering a haemorrhage.
"I rang my daughter, it was about 10 o'clock at night," she said. "She dropped everything and we got him in there. He was admitted into the hospital on Friday, but he went downhill quite quickly and passed away a couple of days later."
Kate said her story is one shared by countless others around the country, and it all stemmed from exposure that took place in a matter of weeks when Steve "just wanted to earn a bit of extra pocket money" with his dad.
As many as one in three homes still contain asbestos in Australia
The grandmother said she's now on a quest to share her experience with as many as possible, particularly if it makes Australians "stop and think before they smash down a wall". "I'm more than happy to do it. It might just save somebody," she said.
The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (ASSEA) is this month calling on Australians to understand the growing dangers of ageing and deteriorating asbestos, particularly as the summer season approaches, and home renovation projects kick off.
Despite a complete asbestos ban more than 20 years ago, an estimated one in three homes across Australia still contain asbestos. Asbestos was used in over 3,000 building products, and it can show up inside and outside, in floors, walls, ceilings, eaves, pipes and roofs.
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