Chris & Mick Knighton's Story
Looking up at the apartment window my husband Mick said: "That’s where we are coming next – it’s perfect."
We had just enjoyed two weeks of sand, sea and sun in Corfu and didn’t have a care in the world except when we would next get back to Greece.
Mick had found this fantastic apartment block with sea views and we knew we would be booking it in for next year’s summer holiday as soon as we got home.
But a few weeks later our world collapsed.
On return from holiday Mick had been feeling unwell with a chest infection but when it didn’t go away and he was finding it hard to breathe we went to accident and emergency to get it checked out.
A sympathetic doctor told Mick to continue his course of antibiotics but suggested an x-ray "just to make sure".
Alarm bells began to ring when the x-ray showed Mick’s lung was totally obliterated. We didn’t have time to think about what it was as Mick was immediately taken to have two and a half litres of fluid drained from his lung.
The next few weeks saw Mick go through the draining and tiring process of having his lung drained. We never really discussed what was happening and were confident the doctors would get to the root of the problem. On Wednesday, July 26, 2000 we arrived at North Tyneside Hospital for test results.
It is a date I will never forget.
Sat in the waiting room at the hospital we discussed our plans for the afternoon. A stroll on the beach, followed by fish and chips in nearby Tynemouth. It sounded perfect. We had never dreamed that a few moments later that we would be told that Mick had just six months to live.
When we went into see the consultant we new immediately the news was bad. But you always have hope of treatment and recovery.
When the doctor said Mick had asbestos related cancer, Mesothelioma, we just look at each other. Mesothelioma? We’d never heard of it. Asbestos related? Mick had never worked in heavy industry.
We thought that there must be a mistake.
There was worse to come. There was no treatment, no cure and no hope. Mick had just months to live. The doctor said: "Leave here and spend quality time together – it is all you have got."
Stunned we walked out of the hospital with our arms around each other. It was a beautiful July day the sun was shining and we found ourselves at the coast.
We sat holding hands looking out to sea in total shock we couldn’t take in the enormity of what we had been told. We were soul mates, always had been since we first got together, how could we possibly cope with life without each other?
We didn’t want to go home. Going home closing the door bringing this problem into our house would make it real somehow. Staying out in the sun we could pretend things were still the same not a care in the world two happy people who loved each other dearly. If we went back to the real world we would have to tell our family the tragic news. We visited my sister and sat in her garden in the sun and said nothing about the terrible news we had received.
Eventually we had to go home. We spent that night talking. When the morning dawned - things hadn’t changed. How on earth was I going to survive with this unbearable pain in my chest? My heart was broken.
We then had to break the news to our family so they would also be able to spend quality time with their son, father, brother, grandfather and friend.
That weekend we took our three young grandsons away. This had been arranged for several weeks and there was no way Mick was going to let the boys down. It was a bittersweet weekend. The boys had no idea anything was wrong but seeing Granddad and the boys playing happily together broke my heart.
Although Mick was getting increasingly tired and had to rely constantly on medication for pain relief he wouldn’t give in. Since his diagnosis we spend every minute of every day together. I had given up work immediately he was diagnosed - the time we had left together was too precious to waste!
We had been told those suffering from asbestos-related diseases could receive compensation from their former employers. We had since found out that Mick was exposed to asbestos while working in the Navy as a young man. As a gunner he was issued with anti inflammable gauntlets and hoods the gun turret its self was lined with asbestos. Asbestos products were used throughout ships and on a number of occasions he was employed in ships, which were going to be striped of asbestos and refitted.
Although the Navy freely admitted the exposure to asbestos had been during his time spent in their service there is no way they would be held to account. The Crown has immunity and you cannot sue the crown! The way I see it is Mick and others like him have given their lives for their country.
Realising that Mick’s life was worth nothing to his employers I decided there and then to raise £100,000 in his name. The average amount received by mesothelioma sufferers.
It wasn’t about the money. It was about making sure Mick was remembered and honouring his life. I also wanted to find a cure for this devastating disease for others in the future. It did not seem right that even the government wasn’t funding research into a disease which hit so many hard working people.
When I told Mick what I was doing he smiled and squeezed my hand. He said: "I know you can do anything you put your mind to and I will support you all the way".
A few months later Mick had become so weak that we moved upstairs. He was getting very confused and sometimes he thought he was dead and got upset as he thought I must be dead too.
By Mick’s birthday in February he was constantly on oxygen and I was lugging oxygen cylinders up and down stairs. I would carry Mick to the bathroom on my back.
Mick's strength of character shone through again and he rallied once for his birthday celebration with his close family around the bed and even managed a sip of wine!
On a lovely spring morning in March Mick announced he wanted to go out and see the daffodils. He was so persistent I borrowed a wheelchair and with help from my brother-in-law we managed to get him downstairs.
Off Mick and I went round the local park wrapped up warm and complete with oxygen. When we got back he didn’t want to come back inside he had enjoyed the fresh air so much that he was content to sit at the front door.
Two days later Mick slipped into a coma. The doctor advised me to make him comfortable and said he would know I was there. I snuggled up next to him and quietly talked about happy times together – those warm days in Corfu, other holidays and good times we had shared. My beloved Mick died in my arms the following night 19th March 2001 - seven months after his diagnosis I was totally and utterly devastated - I still am.
In May the following year I launched the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund. My aim was to raise £100,000 and raise awareness of mesothelioma.
Throughout Mick’s illness we had both become increasingly aware how little is known about mesothelioma and the vital need for more research into the disease. We’d learned about a deadly asbestos time bomb that was about to explode.
More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year. There is still no cure.
At greatest risk are builders, plumbers, railway, construction and shipyard workers but we are all in danger including teachers, children and nurses as asbestos was used widely in the construction of schools, homes and hospitals.
It has been found in people who have lived near factories with asbestos and families of workers who have unintentionally brought the deadly dust home on their clothes.
We launched the charity with Mick’s grandchildren releasing 1,000 balloons on the banks of the River Tyne.
I remember at the time everyone saying how mad I was. Mick’s brother in particular John was supportive but he said: "This is all very well, but the Government should be doing this – not you."
I said: "You are right, but they are not doing anything. Someone has to do something and we are going to do it."
With help and support from family and friends I launched myself into fundraising efforts. Every penny we raised was lovingly counted and put aside to raise awareness and to finance research.
It was hard work but we had a lot of fun along the way. By May 2005 we had surpassed our target and by 2006 our first research project to make a chemotherapy drug more effective was underway.
Now we have raised more than £300,000 for the charity and we are looking to fund our second research project.
The biggest success story from the charity is a self-help group we created two years ago. We now have more than 50 members and provide a relaxed atmosphere for mesothelioma sufferers and their families to find support, advice and guidance.
We meet on a Friday afternoon and when I look around the room I wonder how I would ever have coped without all of these wonderful friends. My loss and pain is no greater than all the others who have lost loved ones to mesothelioma. It is a cruel disease that does not discriminate.
There are times, between fundraising projects and support group outings, where I imagine Mick looking down at me and wondering: "what is she up to now.”"
There is not a single day in my life that he would recognize now but he would be proud of me and if he was to come back I know he would throw himself into making the charity a success.
But he would also encourage for me to take a holiday, so he could take me back to that dream apartment in Corfu.
Chris Knighton
