News Archive

By Sally-Ann Jones

Even if researchers got only "half an inch" closer to a cure for mesothelioma thanks to money raised on a 600km charity walk, Derryn Carnaby would be happy.

Mrs Carnaby of Bullsbrook was the organiser of the inaugural Kalgoorlie to Perth walk to raise funds for research and was thrilled with the $75,000 total.

The cheque was recently handed over to medical oncologist Professor Anna Nowak at the National Centre for Asbestos- Related Disease in the School of Medicine and Pharmacology at the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre.

Mrs Carnaby knows the heartache of the deadly lung cancer better than most. Before she was born, her parents and two of her brothers lived, played and worked in Wittenoom, Australia's only supplier of blue asbestos. Her brothers Phillip and Cleve Noble died aged 36 and 53, each leaving two young children behind. Her father Ray died when he was 71 and her mother Fay died two months before her 80th birthday.

"If we could just stop one person from dying, those 600km would have been worth it. Even better pain relief would be a great result."

About 30 walkers aged from 17 to 80 took part in the walk, including the cooks and the nurse in the group. Each person walked between five and 30km on each of the six days. Senior Australian of the Year in 2011, Robert Vojakovic, who has spent 33 years campaigning to help victims of asbestos-related diseases, and who heads the Asbestos Disease Society of Australia, was one of the walkers.

Three lawyers from Slater and Gordon, who handle most of WA 's mesothelioma claims, and the firm's head of corporate services, Siri Siriwardene, also joined in.

"Slater and Gordon in WA have been helping asbestos victims and their families secure compensation for more than 25 years and is a good friend of the Society," Mr Vojakovic said.

"Every bit of ground on the road from Kalgoorlie to Perth was covered," Mrs Carnaby said. "People sponsored us, we had auctions and along the way we had raffles in pubs in the towns we walked through - Kellerberrin, Merredin and Northam. Everyone was so supportive.

"The heartbreak of losing four members of my family to the disease - and the concern that thousands of others exposed to asbestos fibres will suffer the same fate - drives me to help find a cure."

So far, asbestos-related diseases have claimed the lives of more than 2,000 Wittenoom workers and their families. Medical experts warn that anyone who lived in Wittenoom during the mining period would have been exposed to asbestos and are at higher risk of developing lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestos and pleural diseases.

There is also concern for the next generation of victims as evidence mounts of a new wave because of home renovations.

According to the Asbestos Disease Society, epidemiologists expect asbestos diseases to peak in Australia around 2025, with as many as 45,000 people dying over the next two decades if an effective treatment or a cure is not found.

"Even though the Wittenoom mine closed at the end of 1966, we're seeing more and more people being diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses," Mr Vojakovic said. "This insidious product made its way into the wider community through its use in everyday products such as insulation, carpet underlay, vehicle brake pads, fire retardant, kitchen appliances and building supplies."

Published in UWA News , 23 July 2012