Mesothelioma death moves personal injury worker deeply

When my cousins were small, they loved the Muppets Treasure Island - I never thought that would be relevant to working for a personal injury company, but it turns out that the actor who played Captain Flint in the film died from mesothelioma resulting from exposure in his teens.

He was David Nicholls; he's not one of those big names that goes above the film's title, but he had had a significant career from Alan Bleasdale's GBH to roles in films like Gladiator and Gangs of New York. One of those actors, perhaps, where you find yourself going, "oh, what was he in?" when he appears on screen.

Nicholls himself threw himself into fundraising to fight the industrial disease following his diagnosis, shown by a spokesperson for his family saying, "David was extremely passionate about raising the profile of this deadly disease to the public he made a very emotional speech at the National Action Mesothelioma Day at Leeds Town Hall in February this year."

His exposure occurred while working as a teenager in a factory that has been described as "dark and filthy", which left him having to wipe asbestos dust from his clothes at the end of each day. Forty years on, that exposure cost him his life.

What is strange about this story is the way that the power of drama can make an actor feel somehow close to you; see how awareness of road traffic accidents increased for a while after Kris Marshall was hurt in one. There was a period when I think I saw the Muppet Treasure Island about as often as Marshall's BT adverts now, thanks to my cousins, so seeing the newsfeed at work report on the cause of Nicholls' passing refreshes my sense of the importance of working to help sufferers claim the compensation that will help them and their family.

But there are many stories like this, most involving people who are not famous, that should inspire the same sense of human care. Any case where innocent people are exposed to dangerous substances through no fault of their own is another example that refreshes the sense of the importance of what we do.

If families are to be ripped apart by the effects of avoidable diseases, then the damages sought to help those families are invaluable - and the aim of a personal injury company, to work in support of the process of making that claim, is an attempt to contribute positively to the world.

Can I claim?