A FORMER nurse is appealing for past colleagues to come forward after she was diagnosed with an incurable cancer believed to have been caused by asbestos in hospitals where she trained 50 years ago.

Margaret Mary Daly, 69, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is caused by exposure to asbestos, in September last year.

The mother-of-one was a trainee nurse at Shotley Bridge Hospital in Newcastle between 1959 and 1964 and at Whittington Hospital in Archway in London between 1964 and 1969.

Ms Daly, from Ferryhill in County Durham, has now instructed specialist industrial disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to help her find out how asbestos was used at the hospitals and what, if anything, was done to protect her from the deadly dust.

In 1959 the 16-year-old began her nursing training at Shotley Bridge Hospital and worked in prefabricated huts situated away from the main hospital building, which included about 20 wards and a theatre.

She then moved to Whittington Hospital in London where she studied to be a midwife in a “dilapidated” old building separated from the main hospital and lived in specially-built accommodation for trainee nurses until 1969.

Isobel Lovett from Irwin Mitchell said: “Asbestos-related diseases are the biggest occupational killer of all time and it can take decades for victims like Margaret to develop the debilitating conditions for which there is sadly no cure.

“We hope to speak to as many of Margaret’s friends and colleagues who trained with her at the hospitals so that we can get the justice she deserves before it’s too late.”

Ms Daly, who retired from nursing aged 40 due to ill health, first started to show the symptoms of mesothelioma in July 2012 when she suffered constant back pain.

She said: “I now feel really breathless all the time and have to sit down and catch my breath as even getting up to answer the door can knock me for six on a cold day.

“I hope the other nurses, doctors or hospital staff I worked with will come forward with information about how asbestos might have been used at the hospitals so that I can finally get some answers about why I’m suffering this terrible illness.”

Anyone with information can contact Isobel Lovett at Irwin Mitchell on 0191-279-0104 or email isobel.lovett@irwinmitchell.com.