Austin Lacy, a senior at Pasadena high School in California, died last week in a Maryland hospital after battling mesothelioma cancer. Abnormally young to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, Austin did not know what the cause of his symptoms was until just a few weeks ago. When his mother, Karen Rogers, heard the diagnosis from Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, she was shocked and confused.  “This is a disease people who worked in coal mines get,” she said.

Rogers was not far from the truth. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos—commonly associated with mining. Additionally, however, asbestos can be found in a broad range of industries including shipbuilding, oil refining, plumbing and insulating. Asbestos catapulted industrial gains of the last century due to its fire resistance and durable qualities.

Asbestos was spread through America and across the globe in products used for everything from residential and commercial construction to military equipment and munitions manufacturing. Many of these components are now beginning to wear out, creating countless possibilities for toxic asbestos fibers to be released into the air.

There is no information yet as to where or how Austin was exposed to asbestos. Most mesothelioma cases are associated with workplace exposure and are characterized by a latency period of twenty to fifty years; Austin was not old enough to fit the typical mesothelioma patient demographic.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of abdominal organ lining, most often affecting the mesothelium, protective lung lining. Symptoms include fatigue, coughing, chest pain, and other respiratory illness signs associated with pneumonia or bronchitis. Mesothelioma treatments include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy, which are administered in combination to manage pain and extend patient life expectancy.

After five hospitalizations over the past year, Austin’s caretakers could not understand the cause of his suffering. Finally, after mesothelioma diagnosis, Roger’s took her son to a Maryland hospital to undergo a new mesothelioma treatment regime. Austin collapsed during preliminary testing and was on life support for several days before his family decided to let him go.

Austin was an avid football player in school, loved and respected by his classmates. His dream was to play professionally, or, as he told his mother, to be a coach if his health issues continued. Friend and fellow football team member Armon Easley said, “He was a leader. He was somebody to look up to. When I was on the field and down, he would always encourage me to play harder and make up for it on the next play.”

Between hospital stays Austin would try to get back in shape for football. “Almost every other day we would go out after practice and work out, because he knew he wasn’t where he was before he was hurt, so he was trying to get back there,” Easley said.

His perseverance through his health trials encouraged his schoolmates and teachers. Austin’s junior-year coach, Steve Hagerty said of Austin, “He didn’t seem to get down too much. He just persevered.”

(Mesothelioma Watch, 08/06/2011)