Leigh Carlisle became the UK’s youngest mesothelioma victim in August of last year. It’s still undetermined exactly how or when she was exposed to the deadly asbestos fibers that caused her death. Mesothelioma is often thought of as a disease diagnosed exclusively in the elderly, but the fact is that asbestos was used as an insulator and fire retardant in new construction until around the turn of the century. Asbestos fibers continue to turn up in residences, schools and even hospitals today, and while efforts continue to clean up and isolate asbestos contamination in the workplace and elsewhere, mesothelioma is far from “yesterday’s concern”.

Last year, Leigh Carlisle said “I used to take a shortcut across a yard in Failsworth on my way to primary school. I know that men working there cut asbestos sheets and handled asbestos materials in the yard, but I had no idea that by walking through the yard I could have inadvertently got cancer.”

While the exact source of asbestos that caused Leigh’s mesothelioma was never determined, the fact that the dangerous fibers were being used and even handled like a safe construction material just fifteen years ago is disconcerting.

Mesothelioma has an incredibly long latency, that is, the time it takes between exposure to asbestos fibers and the development of the cancer. With a latency between a few years and a few decades, we can expect to see mesothelioma diagnoses far after asbestos exposure is no longer considered a present danger – which is certainly not the case.

Leigh Carlisle died from mesothelioma when she was just twenty eight years old. Her family and loved ones were shocked and devastated.

“After the shock subsided we were left with the question how did Leigh come into contact with asbestos,” Leigh’s mother said, “we had the massive task of retracing her life. It meant talking to friends, family, neighbors – anyone who had come into contact with Leigh. We did our best to explore every avenue and possibility. That question still hangs over me and the family.”

Investigations never indicated an exact source of Leigh’s asbestos exposure and no one was held accountable for her disease and subsequent death. Her mother is not giving up, however, and says that she will fight to learn the truth about how her daughter contracted mesothelioma.

“We’re being told to get on with our lives and that we might never know how Leigh died,” she said, “we can’t be expected to be satisfied with this. We are a grieving family. We will always be grieving for Leigh. I owe it to my daughter to keep looking for what caused her cancer and I will not stop until my last breath.”