By: Gareth Rogers, South Wales Echo
Dorothy Tobin died because she washed her family's dirty work clothes.
The dutiful daughter would wash her father and brother's work outfits after they came back from work at the Newalls asbestos factory in Bute Street, Cardiff.
Tragically, in the course of her chores she inhaled the deadly fibres that also killed her father, brother and sister.
Dorothy's husband Terry Tobin, 76, has now become one of the first to successfully claim compensation from the company.
Lawyers believe thousands of other people who lost relations who worked at the Butetown plant could also claim.
Mr Tobin, who now lives in Newport, said: 'This was never about the money for me. It was just such a tragedy to see my wife die of a disease after her father, brother and sister had all died of it before her, that I just wanted somebody to take responsibility.'
His wife Dorothy, of Camrose Road, Ely, Cardiff, died of mesothelioma last year.
Thompson's personal injury solicitors, based in Fitzalan Place, Cardiff, successfully claimed that the asbestos was passed on to her in her childhood by washing her father's and brother's clothes.
Her father Jim Pottinger worked at the asbestos factory in the 1930s and he died in 1969 from an asbestos related disease, believed to be mesothelioma. Her brother Jack Pottinger also worked at Newalls and died from the condition in 1999.
And her sister Beryl also died from an asbestos-related disease. Her only contact with the substance was from her father's clothing.
Mr Tobin said: 'When Dorothy went into hospital the surgeon was shocked she had a disease which could only be caught by excessive exposure to asbestos. It is horrible. It's hard to believe one substance can wipe out a whole family.'
Thompson's spokesman Eamon McDonagh said Mr Tobin will be able to make a claim to compensate for his wife's injury and loss of earnings, which could equate to £10,000.
And he said thousands of other relations of employees of Turner and Newalls, who had several factories around South Wales between the 1930s and 1970s, could make similar claims.
Decision paves way for others
Thousands of people indirectly affected by asbestos can now claim compensation because of a decision this week.
Asbestos company Turner and Newalls, which had several South Wales plants, was put into administration because it could not afford to make the full pay outs for claims from around the world.
But former employees and victims this week voted overwhelmingly to accept a pay out of 73 per cent of the full amount owed by the now-liquidated company for anyone who worked at a plant after 1969. People who were affected indirectly will be given 20 per cent of the full pay out.
Thompson's spokesman Eamon McDonagh said that even though fewer than 50 families have made direct claims to them, thousands more families could have been affected.
Mr McDonagh said: 'There are a few dozen people around South Wales who have made claims but there must be many more who have been affected because Turner and Newalls was such a large company.
The Rhoose Plant employed thousands of people and was described as very dusty in its early days.
'All of those families could be eligible to claim.'
