Glossop mum speaks out over cancer heartbreak

A mother-of-two from Glossop has spoken of her heartbreak after waiting a year to be told she had terminal cancer. 

Janet Howard, 62, a former carer, began suffering pain down her left side in March 2019, but didn’t receive the diagnosis of mesothelioma - the cancer caused by exposure to asbestos - until March this year. 

“I went to the doctor about the pain, but they were unsure what it was,” she said. 

“I had a chest x-ray and they couldn’t see anything. Then the pain got really bad and my son took me to A and E where they did another chest x-ray. This time they noticed a shadow on the left side of my lung.” 

Janet was eventually given a diagnosis of mesothelioma 12 months after she initially visited the doctor - and seven long weeks after a second biopsy.  

She said: “I have been really strong and positive, there’s nothing else you can do. I have had four lots of chemotherapy which was awful and I don’t know if it’s done any good. I had a CT scan over three weeks ago and nobody has contacted me. I’m guessing things aren’t being rushed because of lockdown.” 

Janet, who has lived in Glossop all her life, believes she was exposed to asbestos in her first job when she was just 16 years old.   

The former Glossop Comprehensive pupil worked at Lux Lux Limited which produced lingerie for Marks and Spencer. The factory was based in the former Howard Town Mill/ Woods Mill, in Victoria Street, Glossop. 

Janet said: “I got my job there by walking into the mill after finishing school and asking if they had any work. I worked with a local lady called Kim and there would be coach loads of ladies from New Mills, Holmfirth and other surrounding areas who were employed as well. 

“I worked in a number of different roles, including operating the steam presses and examining work.

“Pipework ran through the top floor where I worked, all around the walls and it was really hot because of the steam presses, especially when the sun shone through the windows. The environment was always very dusty.” 

Janet has enlisted the help of solicitor Michael Wolstencroft from Slater and Gordon to pursue a civil case against her previous employer. 

She says the diagnosis has turned her world upside down, adding: “Before being diagnosed I was working as a carer, it’s a job I have done for most of my life, after I left Lux Lux in 1981, but I won’t be returning, I couldn’t do the work anymore.

“I also used to enjoy walking, I would go for very long walks, through the park and up to the local cemetery where my family are buried. But now I can’t walk far at all. My husband sometimes drives us into the countryside and we will eat a picnic in the car or have a short walk.  

“I received my diagnosis in March, at the start of lockdown and it has been hard. I try to remember that some people have it even worse, but sometimes I get upset.” 

Michael, who is an industrial disease specialist at Slater and Gordon, is appealing for anyone who worked with Janet or may have any information about Howard Town Mill to get in touch with him. 

He said: “Mrs Howard was employed at Lux Lux between 1975 to 1981 and we are keen to speak to anybody who worked there with her. 

“By the time she started work, in the mid-seventies, the dangers of asbestos were known and her employers should have been taking action to protect their staff. The nature of asbestos-related illnesses means they can lie dormant in the body for decades before sufferers realise. Only now, years later, are people like Janet realising the consequences.” 

Anyone with information can email michael.wolstencroft@slatergordon.co.uk or call 0161 684 6628. 

Main image:

HAPPIER TIMES: Janet and her youngest son Rick in 1987.