Work History
“I Did All Kinds of Work”
My name is Bill and my wife’s name is Anna.
I joined Local 60 in 1963 and I served a five years apprenticeship and then became a mechanic. In that apprenticeship, I went to a lot of chemical plants, industrial work, power houses, oil refineries all up and down the Mississippi River . Even in the beginning of my apprenticeship, I worked with a smaller company that did a lot of installations of building houses and we’d put the air conditioning with asbestos.
During that time, I more or less was a welder. And the last couple of jobs, I was becoming what they call a hot welder. A hot welder is a type of welding that they heat this pipe up, that is so, so hot. They heated up to 1,200 degrees before you even start welding. And in that process they wrap the pipe with asbestos and then they put insulation in between the asbestos and they fold it over. And that’s where I think that I got my main dose of asbestos.
And then after that, I became a general foreman, a senior general foreman at the nuclear powerhouse. And I went on from there kind of not being a welder no more, being a pipefitter, foreman, general foreman. So that’s about my story. I did all kinds of work.
Asbestos Exposure on the Job
“We Didn’t Know It Was that Dangerous.”
Well, I was exposed to asbestos while cutting out insulation to put in the pipe because a lot of these oil refineries were constantly coming down and we had flanges to take apart. We had all sorts of pipe fitting and anytime we had to cut into a line, we knocked off the asbestos insulation. And then when I went to the hot wells, that was one of the main things. We didn’t know that it was that dangerous. But when they needed a fitter to go in there and help ’em, I went in there. We call ’em the asbestos crew and we just went in there.
As a pipe welder, I worked on shutdowns, repair work, maintenance. I did a lot of maintenance work and I was exposed at all these places, especially the chemical plants, the powerhouses, and the oil refineries with asbestos. And that went all the way into 1993.
Mesothelioma Diagnosis
“If You Don't Do Nothing, You Got Six Months.”
I was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2021. After I was diagnosed with mesothelioma, I had treatments of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
Before I was diagnosed with this disease, I was walking like a mile and a half a day. And then I started noticing that when I finished I had to go get on my front porch and relax. It was about five minutes. So after a couple of days, that’s when the Covid came and it started really getting hard on breathing. My wife was the one that made me go to one of them country doctors, she thought I may have had the flu. So I went to Dr. Burns and he was checking me out. And then when he checked my lungs, he told me, “Bill, I don’t like what I hear. When’s the last time you’ve had a chest x-ray?” And I told him, “Well, it’s been a while, but I want one now.” So he took an x-ray.
When he came back with the x-rays, he says, “Bill, I want you to go get Mrs. Anna and go straight to the hospital.” And when I got there, they checked me out and they knew I had fluid on my lungs or fluid in me.
So the next morning they took the fluid out, which was 1.7 liters of fluid that was in my lungs. And that’s how we started. And she sent me to a surgeon for a biopsy and the surgeon came back and told me that it was mesothelioma. He told me there was no cure.
I asked him, “How long did I have?”
And he says, “Well, if you don’t do nothing, you got six months.”
Treatment and Prognosis
“Bill, That’s All I Can Do.”
My doctor says, “I want you to go see this doctor at the Bensons.” I think it’s the Benson Cancer Center, which I did. And she was very, very good. She really kept me alive.
For the first two years, I did immunotherapy. It wasn’t chemo. And then she finally told me, she says, “It’s not working no more. You’re going to have to go on chemo.”
So I went on chemo. The first chemo she gave me, it would make me sick about the second day and it might last a week. And then I would ease out of it. And then that quit working. She told me, “I’m going to try this other chemo.” And I think I went two months and then she got back with me and she says, “that’s not working either.”
She says, “Bill, that’s all I can do.” So she dismissed me from my medicine that she was giving me. So now I’m on my own with no chemo and just waiting time. I know my time is coming. So that’s my story on that.
Impact of Mesothelioma on Family
“My Wife and I Know It's Hard.”
When I got mesothelioma, my whole life changed. My kids came to help me out. One of ’em is from New York and he’s taking time off. And my other sons, they do the same thing. They help me cut the grass, they hear from me. So my wife and I know it’s hard.
I don’t have to ask my wife to do things. She’s always there for me. Anything I needed. She’s just great, I’ve been married to her for 61 years, going on 62.
Legal Help
After I was diagnosed with mesothelioma, I knew I had to get a lawyer. So I went to my Local 60 plumbers and pipefitters and spoke with my union representatives and they told me my best bet was to go with Baron and Budd, which I did. And so I called them and Todd came out the next day to my house in Mississippi. He signed me up and I started from there.
When we had the deposition, Chris Colley was the gentleman that stayed by my side the whole time. He never left me. He protected me with my rights and everything, made sure that these other lawyers wouldn’t pounce on me.
And after that I went to a 6-day trial with David Cannella, who was a fantastic lawyer, along with his representatives that were with him.
Trial and Case Result
“I Know My Wife Is Taken Care of.”
I went to trial with David Cannella, who was I think the leading attorney, who did a fantastic job. And I can’t really tell you how grateful I am for him because they protected me too. And they financially got me stable. And I want to bring up that during the trial it lasted five days. And during the trial I was awarded the largest sum in Louisiana history on asbestos. That was $36 million. And it took the jury only a half an hour to come to that decision.
But that $36 million is not for me. My ticket’s punched. That was for Mrs. Anna. That’s going to take care of Mrs. Anna, my wife. I wanted her to make sure that she was protected and they’d done it. They substantially made me sound, which I am very proud to have Baron and Budd as my representatives.
Advice for Others
“They Are the Best.”
If any of my brother members, or matter of fact, anybody would come to me and ask me, which I know they’ve done, people have come to me and ask me, what should I do? And I would tell ’em, call Baron and Budd. They are the best.
Baron and Budd has seen me through these difficult times and they have financially stabilized where I don’t have to worry about my wife, she’s taken care of. That’s the main thing.
