Chris launched the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund following her husband's death
ONE woman's mission to make sure her husband did not die in vain has taken another step forward.
Chris Knighton lost her husband Mick to asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in 2001.
Since then she has embarked on a campaign to raise awareness as well as funds to further research into the condition.
Just two weeks ago, she was awarded an MBE for her charity work after collecting more than £1m through the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund.
Now she has helped launch a research project which will be the first of its kind in the UK.
The Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Bank UK, being unveiled in London on Thursday, will be the first dedicated mesothelioma tissue bank in the country.
It will help scientists complete ground-breaking work into asbestos cancer. The bank has been set up thanks to £300,000 of funding from the research fund.
Chris, from Wallsend, North Tyneside, said she is thrilled to be involved with such a valuable new resource.
"We are very excited. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and is desperately needed. It will be used by scientists in 14 cancer research centres across the country. It will have a huge impact on research and will leave a lasting legacy.
"And personally, to have Mick's name connected with this is absolutely wonderful. I saw Mick suffer from this illness and I always said he wouldn't die in vain.
"We set out to raise money to stop others suffering – and this has the potential to achieve that."
The £500,000 bank, being launched in partnership with the British Lung Foundation, will hold research samples of tissue and blood from people with mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
The illness has no cure and many people have only a few months to live when they are diagnosed.
Rates of mesothelioma are rising as the UK feels the impact of thousands of workers being exposed to asbestos in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Tyneside, with a proud industrial heritage, has been particularly badly hit.
Every year more than 2,000 people are diagnosed with the disease nationally and deaths are not expected to peak until 2016.
Mesothelioma is also one of the least-researched cancers, meaning projects such as Chris's are vital if a cure is to be found.
Newcastle's Northern Institute for Cancer Research is expected to be one of the centres across the UK using the new tissue bank, which will be based at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.
There are similar banks in the US and Australia, but this will be the first in the UK.
Chris added: "When we first started, we aimed to raise £100,000 to fund one study. Now we have funded four research studies and this new project.
"Mesothelioma has affected the lives of many families in the North East due to the legacy of heavy industries on the rivers Tyne, Wear and Tees. Recent figures show that many more people will be diagnosed with asbestos in the future.
"We feel this is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about mesothelioma and to highlight the progress that has been made over recent years to find ways of treating the disease."
For more information about the Mick Knighton fund visit www.mkmrf.org.uk
