Sunday World cutt 1
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Arthur Rafferty, a former deep sea docker, was diagnosed with asbestosis in 2001 but was later told he no longer had the fatal lung disease. He traveled to Liverpool for an independent consultation and the UK expert confirmed he does have asbestosis and asbestos-related pleural disease. Mr. Rafferty is relieved to finally know the true cause of his shortness of breath and has filed a medical negligence complaint and plans to pursue compensation against his former employer who exposed him to asbestos without warning of the dangers.
Sunday World cutt 1
- 1. May 10, 2009 ITS A BLOODY AWFUL ENDING 45 TRUTH: Arthur Rafferty TALKATIVE: Beauty Isabel Lucas, who stars with Ethan Hawke (above) in Daybreakers, found it hard to keep plot details to herself Dying dock man proved right at last By JOHN CASSIDY A TOP UK asbestos consultant has finally confirmed what former deep sea docker Arthur Rafferty has always known he has the killer lung disease. Eight years after the 69year-old was first told he was diagnosed with the fatal condidtion, Arthur recently travelled to Liverpool for an independent consultation. He made the trip after the Belfast Trust last year told him that he no longer had asbestosis even though he was diagnosed by the Mater Hospital in 2001 with the condition. Now in a letter to the Belfast pensioner, Dr Christopher Warbuton, one of the UKs four expert consultants in asbestosis, has told Arthur that he has the fatal lung disease. From the point of view of asbestosit is my view that this gentleman does actually have pulmonary fibrosis. It is my opinion therefore that this gentleman actually does have asbestosis As far as Mr Raffertys other conditions are concerned, he does have asbestos-related pleural disease, this is pleural plaque disease. OMAGH MAN: Sam Neill Sexy starlet gives away gory details of bedevilled vampire film By JULIAN BROUWER in New York SEXY Aussie starlet Isabel Lucas may have driven a stake through the heart of Sam Neills new vampire movie by accidentally giving away the plot. View Fans were looking forward to watching Omaghborn Neill appear in gory bloodfest Daybreakers, his first horror movie since his evil role as Damien in the Omen. But an excitable Isabel, who plays Sams daughter in Daybreakers, inadvertently blabbed the major storyline of the film that her character Alison Bromley has to kill him because he has turned into a bloodsucker. The actress first won hearts as sassy Tasha Andrews in Aussie telly soap Home & Away. My first audition for Daybreakers was the worst I have ever done, ever. It was quite an extreme scene of going from crying to brutally stabbing her father, she said. In the movie, Isabel, 24, plays the last surviving human in a future world in which a plague has turned nearly everyone into vampires. The flick, set in the year 2017, has already been bedevilled with delays and its release has been pushed back until next January. Gaffe Now Isabels gaffe could mean that key scenes may have to be re-shot, just to keep enough surprises in store for horror fans. Other big name actors in the cast are Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. Hawkes character Edward is a vampire researcher who works with a covert band of vampires seeking a blood substitute before time runs out to save the human race from extinction. However, while Edward wants to become human again, his evil brother (Dafoe) loves being a vampire and is determined to capture and farm the last humans. Meanwhile, Sam, 61, wont be too fussed if the release of Daybreakers is delayed a bit longer not only does the busy Jurassic Park actor have a bunch of new movies lined up, he also runs his own wine vineyard in New Zealand. Despite his heavy workload family man Sam insists he will never be as distant as his own army dad Dermot who threw him into boarding school and would only see him for weeks at a time. School My father would send me off to boarding school and shake hands with me at the railway station and we wouldnt see each other for 3 months, says Sam. I think Im a bit more demonstrative with my children. Dermot, a strict army officer disciplinarian who was educated at posh public school Harrow and then at Sandhurst, was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Irish Guards. He later moved the family to New Zealand to run Neill and Co. the countrys largest liquor retailers. Sensitive Sam the middle child in the family was originally born Nigel Neill but was teased so much by Kiwi kids following the move overseas that he changed his name. Nigel was a little effete for the rigours of a New Zealand playground, recalls Sam, who also used to suffer from a stutter as a boy. He has changes on CT scan which in my view are indicative of pulmonary fibrosis and therefore asbestosis in view of his previous asbestos exposure. Mr Rafferty said he was relieved to have been finally told the true cause of his shortness of breath. I am relieved in a way that Dr Warburton has finally got to the bottom of my condition. I have now written to the General Medical Council in London and complained about five doctors involved in my case. I believe there has been medical negligence and the GMC are now investigating my complaint. Now that I have received Dr Warburtons letter, I will be able to pursue my action for compensation against George Heyn & Co. My union and my employers knew about the dangers of asbestos and they never told me or my colleagues. john.cassidy@nth.sundayworld.com