Dr. Mavis Nye was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma back in 2009. She was treated with chemotherapy for four years and then participated in immunotherapy trials that were successful. Now the longest living person with mesothelioma in the United Kingdom, she has dedicated herself to raising awareness of the dangers of asbestos and was recently voted Most Influential Individual for 2021 by readers of the publication Safety and Health Practitioner.
Mesothelioma Victim Described as “Dynamo for Asbestos Awareness”
After being diagnosed with mesothelioma, Dr. Nye immediately turned to research. She learned of asbestos’ role in the disease and that protective measures could have kept her and others sickened by the carcinogen safe. “It made me so angry with the government, at the time, because that they knew about it [the dangers] and yet they let us carry on working. They assumed we would die, and they wouldn’t have to pay compensation.”
Channeling her anger, she began a campaign to warn of asbestos’ dangers and its role in mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease. She started the Mavis Nye Foundation to support victims through support and advice, speaking to international groups and raising funds for various asbestos-related charities. She is also a patient representative for the UK’s National Health Service, where she sits on various committees.
Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure Blamed for Mesothelioma Diagnosis
Dr. Nye links her own mesothelioma to asbestos brought home on the clothing of her lifelong partner Ray, who she met when she was just 15 and he was working as an apprentice shipyard worker at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham. She credits her long-term survival to “something in my DNA that has helped me through,” as two other mesothelioma patients who were involved in the same immunotherapy trial that she was have since died.
Upon being named Safety and Health Practitioner’s Most Influential Person of 2021, she expressed hope that it would help her to raise awareness. “People think asbestos is not in today’s houses and today’s society, but it is. Just because it’s banned, doesn’t mean it went away. It didn’t and I want to keep pushing that fact and keep people safe for the future, especially the people that work with it.”
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net are here to provide information and support. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
