Rail Worker Dies of Mesothelioma

Swindon Advertiser

By Stephanie Tye

An inquest has heard that mesothelioma was a significant contributing factor to the death of 80-year-old Herbert Shergold.

Queensfield resident Mr Shergold, who was known to his friends as Joe, died on November 21 at the Great Western Hospital.

He had been admitted to the hospital on November 1, suffering from a shortness of breath.

He died of sepsis caused by a pleural abscess.

Mr Shergold was exposed to the deadly asbestos while he was working at the Swindon railway works.

He started work in the running shed in 1942 before he went to work on the engine footplate as a fireman.

It was during this time that he was exposed to asbestos.

Deputy coroner for Wiltshire Nigel Brookes read out a statement Mr Shergold had made in the months leading up to his death.

"He said that while they took the locomotives out for trial at Dauntsey, they would often have a lot of white dust on their clothing," said Mr Brookes.

"He said it was a very dirty job."

After working at Pressed Steel for two years, Mr Shergold returned to the railway works where he worked in A shop and E shop.

He remained at the works until it closed in 1986.

The inquest heard the 80-year-old had suffered from shortness of breath for a number of years, a loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss.

In August last year he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which does not have a cure.

Summing up the inquest, Mr Brookes said it was obvious that Mr Shergold had been exposed to the substance for a number of years.

"We have gone back a long way to the days before Network Rail," he said.

"I think many little boys of that generation and of subsequent generations envied the men, like Mr Shergold, who worked on the footplate.

"They saw it as glamorous, but as we have heard today it was not.

"No-one knew just how dangerous asbestos was in those days, and it was used liberally in the railway works."

Mr Brookes gave a verdict of industrial disease.

A day to raise awareness of the killer disease mesothelioma was held yesterday.

Mesothelioma Action Day is a national event designed to heighten awareness of the asbestos-related disease.

At last year's action day, members of the Swindon and South West Asbestos group released more than 20 white balloons, each bearing the name of an asbestos victim.

The group is on hand to offer advice and support to family members affected by asbestos-related diseases and regularly hold social events.