Like father, like son: Brian’s intergenerational dust disease story

From the sweeping plains of Africa, trinkets and treasures that once marked a life of adventure now sit quietly on shelves in Brian’s Geelong home. Each piece tells a story of safari tours, long roads travelled, and dreams realised after decades of hard work.

These days, Brian spends most mornings walking along the Geelong foreshore with his dog, Bear. The salt air, familiar paths and steady rhythm give him time to reflect on the life he built for his family, and the future he thought he had ahead of him.

Not long ago, retirement looked very different.

It was meant to be filled with travel, grandchildren, and the business venture he had poured his heart into after years in the electrical trade. Instead, Brian found himself confronting a devastating diagnosis linked to the very work that had provided for his family all those years earlier.

A lifetime of hard work and hidden asbestos exposure

Brian followed in his father’s footsteps into the trades, beginning an electrical apprenticeship in the 1970s before building a long career across industrial and commercial worksites throughout Geelong.

At the time, Geelong was widely recognised as an industrial centre, where many worksites involved the widespread use of asbestos‑containing materials. Sadly, it’s all too common for workers like Brian to develop serious asbestos-related illnesses later in life.

He installed switchboards, ran cables and worked in factories, housing commission properties and ageing buildings - the kind of hands-on work many Australian tradespeople took pride in.

Like countless workers of his generation, Brian was exposed to asbestos without ever being warned about the danger.

The dust was everywhere. It lingered in ceilings, walls, insulation and electrical boards. Cutting into old materials, drilling, sweeping up at the end of the day, and it was simply “part of the job”.

At the time, Brian was focused on building a life for his young family. The work gave him stability and opportunities his parents’ generation had fought incredibly hard for. He bought a home, raised children and eventually watched his own son become an electrician, continuing the family tradition.

For decades, life moved forward. Until suddenly, it didn’t.

The symptoms that changed everything

Brian had always taken pride in staying healthy. Even in retirement, he kept active, regularly running along the beaches near his home with Bear by his side.

But one day, something felt different. He became unusually short of breath during a run, enough to mention it to his doctor during a routine appointment.

That conversation would sadly change the course of the rest of his life.

Soon after, Brian found himself at Geelong Hospital, surrounded by specialists, trying to make sense of what doctors were telling him: that he had been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is unfortunately a rare and aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

The diagnosis felt terrifyingly familiar to Brian. He’d seen it before.

Looking at himself in the hospital mirror, he saw reflections of his father, another hardworking tradesman whose workplace exposure would ultimately cost him his health.

For many people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, symptoms can take decades to appear. By the time they do, the disease is often advanced and cannot be reversed.

"Once I was diagnosed, I knew what was coming up," Brian said.

Despite the shock of receiving a terminal diagnosis, Brian’s focus quickly turned to the people he loved most.

He wanted certainty for his family. He wanted to know they would be looked after.

That’s when he decided to contact Maurice Blackburn.

Securing peace of mind for his family

When experienced Maurice Blackburn lawyer Nadia Lucas first met Brian in the firm’s Geelong office, they spent hours carefully documenting his working history and identifying the roles that exposed him to asbestos over many years.

“Individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma may be entitled to compensation through either a common law damages claim or a WorkCover claim,” Nadia said.

By building a detailed picture of Brian’s employment history, we established that employers had failed in their duty to protect him from workplace asbestos exposure.

For Brian, the legal process provided something invaluable: relief.

“My first meeting with Nadia at Maurice Blackburn was very thorough, very comprehensive, and I walked out feeling a lot of ease. I felt a lot of relief,” Brian said.

“I didn’t know what the outcome was, but I knew that step in my life was looked after. I didn’t have to worry about it, and I could go on with the other things in my life that I wanted to look after.”

With our experienced team handling his compensation claim, Brian was able to focus his energy where it mattered most, such as spending time with family and making the most of the time he has.

The compensation secured on his behalf gave him the peace of mind that his loved ones would be financially supported into the future.

A life well lived

There’s a warmth about Brian that remains untouched by his diagnosis.

Friends and family describe him as optimistic, grounded and endlessly resilient, and someone who still greets life with a “sunny side up” outlook despite the uncertainty he now faces.

But his mesothelioma diagnosis has forced difficult decisions.

The retirement dream he once imagined, including expanding his African touring business, had to be put aside.

Now, the souvenirs from his travels line the shelves of his Geelong home, each one carrying memories of adventures he once hoped there would be more time for.

Today, those stories are shared with his grandchildren instead. And while Brian speaks proudly about the life he’s lived, there is a real sense of sadness too.

The hardest part is not knowing how much time he has left with the people he loves most.

Still, Brian remains focused on creating moments that matter now, such as morning walks with Bear, time spent with family, and passing down stories that will live on long after he is gone.

How we can help

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, it’s important to seek legal advice as early as possible to understand your entitlements and access available compensation.

If you have been exposed to asbestos at work or through domestic exposure but have not been diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition, you can also register your exposure with the National Dust Disease Register.