It IS a devastating diagnosis to be told that the reason you are now going to die is for simply doing your job.

That is the reality for hundreds of men and women in Wales. Decades after they were exposed to asbestos, which in some cases they were unaware of, it is now having deadly consequences.

Exposure to asbestos can result in a form of cancer called mesothelioma that causes shortness of breath, chest pain, cough and of which there is no cure.

Few of those diagnosed with mesothelioma survive more than 12 months after symptoms begin to show. It's a devastating and shocking blow to them and their families.

Many of those diagnosed in Wales are ex-miners, construction workers or those who worked in other industrial occupations in the 1960's and 1970's, when 170,000 tonnes of asbestos was imported to the UK each year.

Every year the number of people diagnosed with mesothelioma continues to grow as the consequences of working or coming into contact with asbestos 50 or 60 years ago come to fruition.

The latest figures show that between 2016 and 2018, 263 people in Wales were told they had the disease.

In many cases, otherwise fit, healthy and active people are suddenly facing a terminal cancer diagnosis decades after being exposed to the building material that caused their illness.

The dangers of working with asbestos were first documented in the early 1900's but it wouldn't be until 1999 that the potentially deadly material was made illegal in the UK.

Many industrial workers worked day-in day-out with asbestos, breathing in the deadly fibres from the material that would cause the onset of mesothelioma decades later.

The greater exposure to asbestos, the greater the risk of developing mesothelioma. Even washing the clothes of someone who worked with asbestos can be dangerous enough and lead to the disease taking root.

According to figures from the Health and Safety Executive in 2017, 2,087 men and 439 women died from mesothelioma in the UK.

The family of Roy Clift, from Duffryn Rhondda, believed he was exposed to asbestos while working for the National Coal Board and Ford Motor Company over six decades.

While working for the National Coal Board, between 1945 and 1966, Roy worked at Nantewlaith, Duffryn Rhondda and Caerau collieries as a fitter. Its alleged that Roy was required to work on asbestos brake pads on diesel locomotives and remove pipe work which was clad with asbestos.

Between 1966 and 1991, he worked at the large Ford site in Swansea. During this time, its believed that Roy regularly came into contact with asbestos-lagged pipe work.

Roy died of mesothelioma in 2016, just weeks after he began to show symptoms.

Law firm Hugh James helped Roys family secure a six-figure settlement from the National Coal Board and Ford Motor Company in May.

His wife Sadie Clift said: "It was a complete and utter shock. We realised Roy had worked with asbestos in the past, but didnt realise how dangerous it was.

"He became short of breath and, within a matter of weeks, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he passed away before we really had time to come to terms with it."

Sadie and Roy's grandson, who preferred not to be named, remembered his grandfather being "full of life and a happy, jolly man", until weeks before he died at the age of 86.

"Grandad would always be singing. He loved music and he'd have the whole family around. He'd be on the piano and my uncle on guitar, we'd get together for a bit of a drink.

"He worked hard all his life and all the hours that god sent. He was a very fit, big strong man and full of life up to five weeks before he died. The cancer came over him all of a sudden and it just went downhill rapidly.

"He got diagnosed with pneumonia at first but one night he came downstairs and said 'I can't breathe'. He was in hospital for a couple of weeks and was only diagnosed [with mesothelioma] three days before he died."

Roy was told by medical staff at the hospital that he had an industrial illness and he started legal action in the days before his death.

"It's heart-breaking to be honest. The compensation wont bring Roy back, but it will make my life a little easier," Sadie said.

As well as those families who are grieving, there are also those who are coming to terms with the shock of a mesothelioma diagnosis.

Wayne Phillips, 70, from Aberdare, has undergone years of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for terminal mesothelioma.

He made a successful compensation claim against his former employer, the construction firm George Wimpey, through Hugh James solicitors after he claimed he had been exposed to asbestos when working as an apprentice carpenter on building sites in the 1960's.

"At that time, asbestos was the saviour, it was everything. It was even used in ironing boards but I was using it in sheets for roofing," Wayne said.

"I was exposed to it for five or six years, but not constantly. The danger wasn't known at the time from what I can remember. I wasn't offered a mask, nothing.

"I'd be breaking up bits of asbestos and they'd fall on me and I'd breathe it in," Wayne said.

Four years ago, Wayne started to experience pain under his arm and across his chest. At first, he thought it might have been a pulled muscle from working out at the gym.

"It took a while to diagnose it. I saw an article in the newspaper about a nurse helping someone who thought they had a damaged rib and saying they had been suffering with pain for a long time. They found out what it was and said there was nothing they could do about it. I wrote the name down of what it was, took it to the doctor and said 'this is what I've got,'" Wayne said.

He said the diagnosis had come as "quite a shock" to him and his wife Patricia. Wayne said he had never smoked and rarely drank alcohol and exercised regularly at the gym.

"It's terminal so I'm having radiotherapy now. It won't do much to the cancer but it helps a bit with the pain.

"It absolutely changed our life overnight. We used to travel all over the world, but I've been unable to go on holiday because I can't get insurance."

Wayne was awarded a settlement from his previous employer.

"The money is handy but we cant really spend it because of my situation at the moment. Weve got an allotment but I cant dig really. I'm finding it hard to exert myself and I cant walk very far," he said.

Ken Dymond, 78, from Pembroke Dock, claims that he worked with asbestos in refineries and ships in Pembrokshire.

He is purusing legal action against a number of his former employers after being diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2020.

His daughter Joanne Wiseman spoke about the family's shock at her dad's diagnosis.

"I'd never heard of it [mesothelioma] to be honest. I had to get someone to translate it for me so I could pronounce it properly.

"When you learn those words, you just wish you'd never heard them.

"It was a real shock. He had symptoms before not being able to breathe properly. He was lethargic and lost weight."

Ken was able to get his diagnosis with the help of Sarah Morgan from charity Mesothelioma UK and another charity Asbestos Awareness & Support Cymru [AASC].

Joanne said: "Jo [from AASC] pointed me in the right direction. We had no idea we could claim compensation.

"The life expectancy isn't very long and I would like people like my dad to have compensation while theyre alive and healthy.

"Realistically these people are often waiting too long for compensation. My dad paid with his life for going to work - thats the hardest thing to cope with."

The threat of asbestos didn't disappear with the 1999 ban. Homes, schools and other buildings constructed before 1985, when a partial ban on some type of asbestos came into force, may well contain asbestos as insulation.

Having asbestos in your home or school is not dangerous until the material is disturbed and specialist contractors can be called in to remove it safely.

Sadly though, for the thousands of men and women who were exposed to asbestos, the acknowledgement of its deadly effects has come too little, too late.

Action Mesothelioma Day was recently held on July 3. To find out more about mesothelioma and the charities that help those affected by it, see Mesothelioma UK or AASC.

More here:

How asbestos is continuing to destroy families more than 20 years after it was banned - Wales Online