In November, 2005, at the age of 77, Edward Walton visited his physician for difficulty breathing.  After several tests, Mr. Walton and his family were troubled to learn that he had two separate types of lung cancer related to asbestos exposure.  This difficult diagnosis came in addition to a diagnosis of asbestosis.  Asbestosis is a painful and breath-stealing condition resulting from the build up of scar tissue in the lungs.  After microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled, they lodge in the victim’s lung tissue, and, over the course of decades, build more and more scar tissue until the lungs lose their ability to expand and contract efficiently.    

At the age of 52, after visiting his doctor for shortness of breath and a persistent cough, Steven Pelley was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  Mesothelioma is a rare and fatal type of lung cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos, and is even more rare among people as young as Mr. Pelley.  While some people diagnosed with mesothelioma can’t identify where they might have been exposed to asbestos, Mr. Pelley knew: it was during his time working for Peerless Pumps and Floway in Fresno, California.