I was 14 when my school friend introduced me to his 18th birthday, cousin, Brian Kember. It did not take long for me to realize that he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
When we were married four years later, I saw my future with Brian stretching before me like a beautiful dream where nothing would ever come between us. We grow old together. After 30 years of happy marriage, it seemed that I was living my dream.
But disaster struck. At the age of 52 - and with excellent health previously enjoyed - Brian began experiencing shortness of breath and was subsequently diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. My dream had turned into a nightmare.
Brian would never live to be an old man. His fate was sealed 45 years before when his parents Vic and Dorrie he and his sister, Pat, the mining town of Wittenoom asbestos, displaced Australia.
mesothelioma not break our spirit
two years for the provision of care Brian were the most difficult and heartbreaking in my life, but in some ways, they were also the most rewarding. Through my suffering, I learned the true meaning of love and came to witness the strength of the human spirit can be so severe test.
Through it all, Brian was determined to continue his life despite the ravages of his illness. I was also determined to make this possible.
stolen mesothelioma Brian and me to our hopes and dreams, but it has not broken our spirit. The routine of pain and symptoms that I put in place made a huge difference to the welfare of Brian. He was not in bed up to three short days before her death.
Widowed at age 51, I felt as if my life was a puzzle with missing pieces. This was the first time I ever experienced it myself.
Time heals, but Scars Remain
It's been 14 years that Brian died. I came to understand the pain is not something you "get over." It's something you learn to live with. I still miss Brian, and I know I always will. The weather helped me to heal and move on with my life, but I still carry emotional scars.
The time can not erase my anger towards Australian Blue Asbestos (ABA), the mining company of asbestos whose negligence caused so much human suffering. Time has not diminished my horror to the town of Wittenoom itself.
A panel of the Supreme Court decided ABA, which operated in Wittenoom from 1943 until the mine closed in 1966, probably knew the working conditions would likely result asbestosis and cancer. using thorn in my side symbolizes the death of Brian and cemetery of 2,000 known former Wittenoom residents died from diseases related to asbestos.
Wittenoom is still contaminated with asbestos
the threat of exposure to asbestos dust in Wittenoom did not end when the mine closed. After 15 years of unsuccessful attempts to detoxify the city, contamination remains vast.
In 06, two engineering firms conducted an official investigation that found the continued spread of asbestos tailings along the site of the town of Wittenoom Gorge, flood plains and pastures. The report warned that if the situation remains unchecked, the result of erosion by wind and flows would feed asbestos fibers in the Fortescue River for hundreds of years to come.
In response to these findings, the Government of Western Australia has chosen to downgrade the city in 07. He finished all support government services, electricity and water abandoned . In 08, the government established a contamination zone 292-mile around the town site and its surroundings. He deemed the whole area unsuitable for human occupation or use of land.
Some residents refuse to leave
In the years that followed, the government urged all residents to leave Wittenoom, offering payment to those who did. The three remaining residents today continue to expect government warnings about the high risk of inhaling asbestos fibers.
Assign their current good health to their strategy to avoid asbestos landfill, they stubbornly refuse to leave the place they call home. Their stubbornness prevents a government incentive to completely isolate the city and block access to the many tourists who continue to camp in the area despite warnings against it.
Robert Vojakovic, president of the Asbestos Disease Society of WA, said the Guardian, he regularly met people who had contracted diseases related to asbestos for a short time in Wittenoom.
"a lady of Karratha, just camped a day in the throat and she got mesothelioma," he said. "It's a beautiful place and many people go there to see but there is a death penalty to go there, it is a Russian roulette - A person can be good, another person will get cancer.."
under existing laws, the government can not take over private land unless it is to make way for public works. This may change with the new legislation under preparation. If the new law comes into effect, the residents will be forced to accept payment for their properties and leave town.
high cost of suppression could prevent cleaning
During the last decade, a number of feasibility studies have explored what it will take to clean the asbestos contamination in Wittenoom. Three high-risk areas have been identified, and the most dangerous is Wittenoom Gorge, a popular camping destination.
In addition to the huge health risks associated with the clearance of contaminated areas, another obstacle is expense. That asbestos is buried or removed from the area, the cost will be extraordinarily high.
Vojakovic does not believe that the government will never clean Wittenoom. "It will cost too much," he said. "I think they want. But you ask anyone. There is no chance of cleaning is done."
J hope that his prediction turns out to be false. Until the town of Wittenoom finally stopped and the treated contamination, I can not rid my mind of heartache he caused me.
