Framingham firefighter lost to mesothelioma cancer

Early this month, Framingham, Massachusetts firefighter Mike Urban, 57, lost his battle with mesothelioma cancer. This aggressive disease that affects the protective lining of the body’s major cavities and organs is rare and caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos.

Urban’s passing comes on the heels of the loss of 58-year-old retired firefighter Michael Marshall to lung cancer last month. Lung cancer is yet another disease commonly cause by asbestos exposure, along with asbestosis.

Urban’s family has been unable to conclusively pinpoint the cause of the mesothelioma. His wife speculated that exposure to asbestos could have taken place in his childhood home, at a fire station, while firefighting or from using carpentry materials, as Urban was a self-employed carpenter before joining the Fire Department.

Asbestos is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulated mineral fiber has been commonly used in construction materials, as insulation and as a fire retardant. When asbestos is disturbed or burns, it realeases toxic fibers that become airborne and are easily inhaled. These fibers lodge in the lungs for decades causing damage. Urban had pleural mesothelioma, which specifically affects the lining of the lungs, leaving no doubt that he’d likely inhaled asbestos for a prolonged period of time.

The local Hollis Street and Saxonville fire stations both have had asbestos, and several years ago, an area in Station 2 was closed off and bolted before the contamination was cleaned up, making exposure at his station a real possibility.

“Mike was family, and we lost a member of our family, and we’ll deal with that the way any family does,” said Station 2 captain at the Saxonville firehouse Paul Barlow

Mesothelioma Diagnosis the Mesothelioma Victims Center Has The Most Comprehensive Free Service For US Navy Veterans & All US Citizens

The Mesothelioma Victims Center is all about creating the absolute best free service for a US victim, or family members of a victim of a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma. As part of its mesothelioma victims initiative for 2011, the group intends to educate victims about middleman marketing law firms, that sell mesothelioma victims to actual mesothelioma trial attorneys. The group says, "you hear, or see a sincere sounding law firm advertising spot on radio, cable TV, a yellow pages ad, or Internet ad offering help for a just diagnosed mesothelioma victim. There is just one really important disclaimer-many forget to say, & we are going to sell your Dad, or Mom to a real mesothelioma law firm, we are not going to do the trial work----and we frequently make $100,000's doing this-we will sign you up, and you will never see us again." The group says, " for many law firms a mesothelioma victim is something you sell to make money. We say-call us, and we will give you the names of some of the best actual mesothelioma trial law firms in the US, and no family members Dad, or Mom gets sold to the highest bidder law firm." The Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "in reality there are maybe six to ten really top notch national mesothelioma law firms, in the United States. We will tell you who they are. You just pick who you like the best. No other group offers anything close to this." If a mesothelioma cancer victim, or their family members want the names of some of the best mesothelioma law firms in the United States, plus all of the additional free services, please call the Mesothelioma Victims Center anytime at             866-714-6466      , or contact the group via its web site at http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

Who Can Get Mesothelioma:

One third of all U.S. mesothelioma victims served in the U.S. Navy between 1930 & 1980.
U.S. Navy Veterans or ship yard workers who worked in the following shipyards should be tested for asbestosis: California : U.S. Naval Shipyard at Mare Island, U.S. Naval Shipyard at San Francisco, and the U.S. Naval Shipyard at San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Naval Shipyard was also known as Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Treasure Island Naval Station Hunters Point Annex, & Long Beach California. Washington State had the Todd Shipyards & the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA. On the East Coast there is Norfolk & Portsmouth Naval Shipyards.
Mesothelioma cancer is a result of asbestos exposure. Individuals who worked in mines, oil refineries, shipyards, power plants, carpenters, plumbers, boiler room technicians construction demolition, auto brake repair professionals, HVAC technicians, and others who were exposed to asbestos can get mesothelioma.
A worker exposed to asbestos on the job, can bring it home, on their work clothing, and expose their families. It is not uncommon for a wife, or a child to get mesothelioma from a parent, who was exposed to asbestos on the job.
Because just Diagnosed mesothelioma cancer victims and their families need assistance, help, advice, support, and a resource, the Mesothelioma Victims Center is providing the most comprehensive US service for mesothelioma victims at no charge--because its the right thing to do. Anyone wishing more information can call the Mesothelioma Victims Center anytime at             866-714-6466