The wife of an asbestos worker wins a $600,000 NSW government lawsuit after she and her husband died of a rare mesothelioma cancer

Dian Pond’s family have been awarded more than $600,000 after a judge found she contracted a rare cancer from inhaling asbestos dust on her husband’s work clothes.

From 1962 to 1970, while working for the NSW Department of Railways, Mrs Pond’s husband David handled, installed and removed insulation and other materials containing asbestos.

The cancerous dust and fibers settled on Mr. Pond’s clothes and were shaken off while his wife washed the clothes at the family home.

In 2009, Mr. Pond died of mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer caused by inhaling asbestos that usually affects the lungs.

Twelve years later, Ms. Pond began to develop shortness of breath.

Dian Pond died of asbestos-related cancer after washing her husband’s clothes, 12 years after he died of the same disease

“She had witnessed her husband die of the same disease,” Judge Wendy Strathdee wrote in her NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal ruling released on Friday.

“She had witnessed his suffering and knew what lay ahead.”

Ms Pond took legal action against the state of NSW in May 2022, four months before she died of mesothelioma.

On behalf of her mother, Mrs. Pond’s daughter Davina Armitage continued the fight.

“It was heartbreaking to hear her testimony, often in tears,” the judge wrote.

“She was a woman in the awful situation of having to physically and emotionally care for her mother, who was dying of the same illness that caused her father’s death.”

Cancer was no stranger to Ms. Pond.

In 1985 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy. Three decades later, she had her thyroid removed after being diagnosed with cancer, and later that same year a small tumor in her lungs was removed.

But the mesothelioma diagnosis was different.

“You could see on her face that she knew she couldn’t beat that,” Ms Armitage told the court, recalling a video conference call with Ms Pond’s doctor confirming her diagnosis.

Ms Pond’s husband worked with asbestos while employed by the NSW Department of Railways

Unlike the previous cancers Ms. Pond suffered from, there was no treatment.

“It is well known that death from mesothelioma is painful and agonizing,” wrote Judge Strathdee.

“The symptoms remain unabated and often cannot be controlled with medication.”

In the last months of her life, Mrs. Pond required care day and night and was very anxious when left alone.

She stopped eating normally, was unable to perform everyday tasks, and became short of breath when walking around the house.

Her pain was so great that she “drank Ordine (an opioid pain reliever) straight from the bottle.”

Although the state acknowledged that her negligence had resulted in Ms. Pond’s death, she believed the plaintiffs should have been awarded $360,000 instead of the $485,000 sought by Ms. Armitage.

However, Judge Strathdee felt that Ms Pond’s suffering was “magnified and aggravated”.

Ms Pond’s daughter, Davina Armitage, was awarded $605,296.32 for her family’s grief

“You can only imagine how she really felt,” she said.

“She was the eldest of the family, her husband had died.

“Her mesothelioma was caused by her late husband’s clothing and she had seen him die of the same terrible disease.”

Ms. Pond’s family were awarded $605,296.32, with a future hearing to determine costs.