Family appeal over asbestos-related cancer death

The family of an "active and independent" former factory worker from Bradford, who died from an asbestos-related cancer, are hoping for answers over how she was exposed to the hazardous material.

Maureen Wainwright spent her entire working life at Field Packaging, one of the city's major employers, creating printed boxes for cigarettes, whisky and perfumes.

Wainwright died on 27 May 2025 at the age of 84, a year after being told she had mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by historical exposure to asbestos.

Her daughter Joanne Cockroft said: "She didn't have any health issues at all until this diagnosis and when we looked it up we just didn't know how to tell her."

She said: "Mum was very independent, right up to 82 she was very involved in bowls and she had a big garden, she loved gardening and going out with her friends and taking the grandkids out."

Wainwright joined Field Packaging in 1953, which was acquired by the American firm Chesapeake in 1999 and is now part of global packaging company Smurfit Westrock.

She worked in different production roles at Field Packaging until her retirement in the early 1990s.

About two years before her death, Wainwright began suffering from breathing difficulties and a persistent build-up of fluid on her lungs.

Doctors initially thought it was recurring chest infections but the symptoms were eventually diagnosed as mesothelioma.

Her daughter said the symptoms got progressively worse.

"To start with she would just shrug it off as a cough or a cold and on a good day she would ask if the doctors had got it wrong but the next day she would be coughing stuff up and they would have to drain fluid off her lungs and that was torture for her to have that done."

Mesothelioma is an aggressive terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos with symptoms often not appearing for decades afterwards.

These can include:

• Chest pain that is often sharp or persistent
• Shortness of breath due to fluid buildup
• A dry, persistent cough that may get worse over time
• Lumps under the skin especially on the chest
• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight loss
• Discomfort or pain in the abdominal area.

Wainwright worked at the now-demolished former Scott Works on Hollingwood Lane up until about 1986.

The building has since been demolished and there is now a retail park in its place.

A survey in 2012 confirmed asbestos was found at the site before the factory was knocked down.

The family believe that in the early to mid-1970s old asbestos lagging was removed from existing pipes during a maintenance project and carried through the factory, past the workers.

A chimney was also demolished at the same time.

Liz Wainwright, Maureen's daughter-in-law, said: "Nowadays they would clear a building if they found asbestos as they would know the risk.

"For us as a family we feel she's probably not an isolated case.

"Thousands of people worked at Field Packaging over the years.

"Many people might have been working in that environment, the maintenance workers, staff working on the lines and the printers themselves.

"Now that the building's not there any more, you don't want people to be unaware of it, just because the site is something else now."

Cockroft also worked at Field Packaging, and said: "I didn't start there until the 80s but I do worry for those who worked there in the 1970s because of the potential health issues that might be coming up for them and if they start coughing they might not know what it is.

"I would like people to find out, if they have this issue sooner than my mum did, so they can get support earlier than she did."

Solicitors Slater and Gordon, who are submitting a compensation claim on behalf of the family, said that mesothelioma can take decades to develop after exposure to asbestos, making "witness evidence particularly important in helping families uncover what happened".

"We are keen to hear from anyone who worked at Field Packaging during the period from the 1950s through to the late 1980s, especially those who may remember building works, boiler installations, pipe removal, maintenance projects or the presence of asbestos-containing materials within the factory, or anyone who worked alongside Maureen during her employment there."

The BBC has asked Smurfit Westrock for comment.