Plumber died from asbestos that he was exposed to during his career

Little did Alan Howells know that asbestos, or the "magic mineral" as it had been endearingly referred to during his career as a plumber, would be responsible for his death at the age of 56.

Anne Howells, his wife, said Alan died only a year after he was diagnosed with the deadly and incurable mesothelioma. She said her husband lost all of his energy and was no longer his usual self as a result of suffering from the lung cancer.

She and her husband never knew about the risks that asbestos posed while Alan worked as a plumber. Anne said they would have taken much stricter precautions in dealing with the asbestos fibers, like wearing protective equipment and leaving his work clothes at work, if they had known the dangers that exposure to the material would lead to.

Alan had started working with asbestos at the early age of 15 after he decided to quit school and began work as a plumber. Anne said she believed he had been inhaling it for years. He came into contact with it often as he mixed asbestos into cement and used it when installing boilers and pipes into other people's homes.

She said he displayed no symptoms until he began experiencing a pain in his back and rib cage. Hospital test results told them the worst news they could imagine - Alan did not have much longer to live.

Alan underwent treatment, but they were unsuccessful. In discussing his worsening health, Anne described it as "a light went out in his eyes."

It has been eight years since Alan passed away, and in honor of her husband, Anne is currently one of the people in charge of an asbestos support group for families. She says she still fears the possibility of the disease affecting her children because of the fibers that were on Alan's work clothes that he wore home.

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