Mesothelioma claims another victim

YARDLEY, Penn - Perry Cummings remembers times with his father as “good times, fun times, treasured times”. He’s not the only one to have fond memories of his father. James M. Cummings III was known to his high school classmates as Mr. Backfield. The students who took his bus knew him as Mr. Cummings, the best bus driver in town. He was instrumental in the creation of the Penndel Wildcats football program and kept touch with his friends as part of the Neshaminy Football Alumni. “Dad was well liked by all who knew him,” his son said. “I haven’t met anybody who didn’t have love and respect for the man. He was a dear friend to everybody.” James Cummings died December 10 after a four year battle with mesothelioma. On December 21, his local newspaper printed his obituary and posted it on their website. Within hours, an acquaintance posted the comment, - He led by example. Truly a unique example in an era of “Do as I say, not what I do.” Cummings was 69 when he died. He’d spent the last four years of his life battling an illness that should not have happened. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that has only one known cause - exposure to asbestos dust. The cancer takes its time to kill. It is often decades after the initial exposure before a victim shows any symptoms. Often, by the time the symptoms are diagnosed as mesothelioma, it’s too late to do anything but make the patient more comfortable. His obituary offers a clue to how Cummings may have been exposed to asbestos. He was employed for over 35 years as a line foreman for Philadelphia Electric Co. There are dozens of products he may have used in his work that exposed him to asbestos dust, and it’s almost certain that he had no idea it might kill him. From the 1800s through about 1980, few people who worked with asbestos understood how dangerous breathing the contaminated dust could be. Those that did deliberately worked together to hide the facts about asbestos exposure so that they could continue to sell their products. The story of asbestos may be one of the most shameful episodes in the history of big business. It is a story of greed, of men who cared more about profit than about the fact that their products were killing those who made them. The decision makers in asbestos based companies knew that one of the main ingredients in their products often killed those who worked with it - slowly, insidiously and painfully. Instead of warning their workers and providing protection and safeguards for them, they hid the dangers and watched their employees become ill and die. The dangers of asbestos are better known now, thanks to highly publicized civil suits that brought out the true facts behind asbestos and the cover up that has killed tens of thousands. Those first suits led to investigations and legislation and a partial ban on the use of asbestos. Since the 1970s, those who work with asbestos must follow safety precautions, and those companies who use asbestos in their products are required to provide warnings about its dangers and maintain a safe working environment for all of their employees. It will be decades before we know the full extent of the legacy left by the greed of the asbestos companies. The death of James Cummings is just one small part of that legacy. James Cummings and men like him leave behind their own legacy, though. In an interview with the local paper, his son Perry spoke of how everyone loved his father. “His legacy is his dependability and his loyalty,” he said. “You could count on my dad for anything. He was the pillar of the family and led by example to be a good person.” (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)