‘Silent killer’ sufferer urges early checks

On July 27 this year, Eaton man Tony Vatri was given three months, four at the most, to live.

It was only one year ago that Mr Vatri, 73, was told he had tested positive for the asbestos-related disease and ‘‘silent killer’’ mesothelioma.

But with limited time left, he wants to share his story and warn people to get tested for the killer disease if they have been exposed to asbestos.

Mr Vatri worked at the Australind chemical plant operated by Laporte Australia Ltd and later SCM Chemicals Ltd, in 1967 and then from 1970 to 1999, and an out of court settlement this year prevents him from talking about the details of his claim.

He is now in a palliative care ward, and while he says the doctors and nurses have been wonderful, the disease has caused him constant pain and he can only utter two or three words before he is out of breath.

"It’s like an elephant sitting on your chest and a sharp pain," he said from his hospital bed.

His pain is equalled by the pain felt by his loving wife, Maureen, who sleeps besides his hospital bed on a reclining chair so they can hold hands when Mr Vatri sleeps.

"We’ve always held hands before we go to sleep so he panics if he can’t feel me," she said.

Mr Vatri is on heavy doses of morphine to ease the pain but is still breathless and sometimes does not sleep through the night.

"When he’s lying there in pain, that’s the hardest," Mrs Vatri said.

"I just said to him, ‘If you’re hanging on for me, don’t’.

"It is killing me seeing him like this."

Slater & Gordon lawyer Michael Magazanik said Millennium Inorganic Chemicals should inform current and previous employees that there was asbestos at the plant and pay for any health checks,monitoring or treatment.

Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia president Robert Vojakovic said studies had shown there were up to 150 diseases related to asbestos.

"More than 3000 people die annually of asbestos-related diseases in Australia," Mr Vojakovic said.

Mr Vatri says he just hopes his story can help save the lives of others.

"If they get to the stage where I am, it’s going to be too late," he said.

Mr Vatri said he first started getting breathless in 2007 but it was not until August 2009 that he was diagnosed with mesthelioma.

"I was rushed to emergency because I was struggling to breathe, but after that my breathing got easier and I was released to go home," he said.

"When I went back to the doctor two days later, I asked to be tested and on my 49th wedding anniversary, it was confirmed that I had mesothelioma.

"Please, anybody who has had any involvement with asbestos at work or if they have had contact with asbestos through brake linings, clutch plates, fire blankets and fencing, please get a lung scan."