Mesothelioma Widow Issues Plea to Missouri Lawmakers

It is nearly impossible for anybody who hasn’t witnessed a loved one’s struggle with mesothelioma to understand the pain and tragedy of the rare and fatal form of cancer. The disease lies hidden in the body for decades, slowly spreading through cells until its tumors become large enough to cause symptoms and be identified, and once diagnosed it is fast moving, cruel and relentless. This week, a Missouri woman who was recently widowed by the disease issued a public plea to lawmakers in her state, urging them to pursue a better understanding of the illness and reconsider a legislative move she fears they are about to make: her concern revolves around a proposed law that would make it more difficult for mesothelioma victims to pursue legal justice against those responsible for exposing people to asbestos.

Widow describes mesothelioma journey in effort to educate

The plea was written as a guest commentary in The Missourian by Linda Ruch, whose husband Frank died last February of malignant sarcomatous mesothelioma. He had worked as a union boilermaker and pipe fitter for decades in a variety of settings, all of which exposed him to asbestos. He was diagnosed in April of 2018 and underwent both chemotherapy and surgery to slow the tumor and relieve his pain, but those efforts did little to help. She describes his last months as “awful,” writing beautifully of their long marriage and the pain of watching him waste away, then goes on to explain that she is sharing this most personal of experiences in an effort to stop lawmakers from passing a bill that would work against asbestos victims, making it more difficult for them to pursue justice against companies that exposed people to the carcinogenic material.

Greater empathy needed from lawmakers