Mesothelioma UK and Bart's Mesothelioma Research are set to benefit from the proceeds of a rock concert organised by the friends of the late Graham Ansell. Daniel Easton, partner in the personal injury department at law firm Leigh Day & Co, represented Mr Ansell’s widow, Mandy in a successful claim for compensation after Graham died from mesothelioma.
Graham had been a carpenter by trade and during his apprenticeship in the 1970’s fitted asbestos soffits to roofs and cut up asbestolux boards as fire protection on construction sites. At the time he was unaware of the dangers of asbestos and his employers did little to protect him from the exposure to the deadly dust, despite there being widespread knowledge of the dangers for years. Due to the latency period in asbestos disease claims, Graham did not notice any symptoms until 30 years later in 2005 when he was on holiday with his family.
A group of Graham’s friends are running a rock concert, The Day of Rockening, on 12th September in Horsham. The line-up includes The AllStarz, Robin Goodrich and Dan Hawkins from 'The Stone Gods'. Robin, formerly of the band 'Bush', is originally from Horsham and Dan was a member of 'The Darkness'. They hope to raise a significant amount of money for two UK charities who help people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma in the UK.
Mandy said:
Graham loved music - it was his passion. He moved on from carpentry into music as a career during the 1990's and thoroughly enjoyed his work as a sound engineer. He never wanted acknowledgement, being happy working 'behind the scenes'. The Day Of Rockening will be held in Graham's memory, but I know it would give him far greater pleasure to see everyone having a good time and enjoying the music. This is going to be a unique evening with the emphasis on having fun, whilst raising the profile of this dreadful disease and bringing in much needed funds to support the charities.
Daniel said:
"Graham was very involved in the music industry and ran a local voluntary organisation to promote young people playing and performing music so this is a really fitting tribute. HIs diagnosis with mesothelioma was devastating and I know Mandy has been very actively involved in mesothelioma issues since his death, trying to raise awareness of the disease and generate funds for mesothelioma charities. The Day of Rockening is a fantastic effort and has our full support.
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