Mesothelioma Deaths of Ardent Campaigners
Although they never met, Mike Wise and Blayne Kinart were united in their personal and public struggles. A year ago, Mike made a dramatic impact when he addressed Members of Parliament at an Asbestos Seminar held in Westminster; he told the packed meeting of the haphazard nature of medical treatment for UK mesothelioma sufferers. As a forty-six year old with mesothelioma, Mike was speaking from first-hand experience.
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In 2003, Mike, a consulting engineer, had to give up the job he loved because of failing health. Despite the progression of his illness, Mike continued to brief journalists and participate in TV programs to raise public awareness of the need for a centrally-funded research program into the treatment and cure for mesothelioma.
Four months ago, intimate photographs of Blayne Kinart's disease-ridden body shocked readers of the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper. The photographs, taken by Louie Palu, illustrated an article entitled: Dying for a Living by Martin Mittelstaedt, which revealed the high price paid by workers living in Canada's Chemical Valley. Blayne explained his willingness to expose the physical toll mesothelioma had taken on him to Journalist Mittelstaedt who recorded that Blayne: “ wants to talk about what happened to him, to show his cancer-wracked body… (and to document) an injustice that shouldn't be tolerated.” Blayne was determined to break the silence which prevailed over the high incidence of occupational illness in the community. His wife Sandy said: “Blayne always felt that this wasn't about him. This was about the voice of all the men who were sick.”
In their own way, Mike and Blayne each made their individual fight a political one; with no thought for their own well-being, they continued to campaign to the very end, determined that their suffering could benefit others. Blayne died on July 6 and Mike on July 9; they will both be sorely missed.
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July 15, 2004
