Marek Marzec, originally from Poland, has been diagnosed with a long-term lung disease that he contracted, while working his job of cutting kitchen worktops as a stoneworker in the UK since 2012.
The father-of-three has been left angry and distraught at the situation.
He’s currently on his death bed, as he was deemed too ill to go through a potentially lifesaving operation.
The stoneworker is now on his deathbed (SWNS)
Marzec has Silicosis, a long-term lung disease that is caused by ‘inhaling large amounts of crystalline silica dust’ over long periods of time, according to the NHS.
Silica can be found in types of stone, rock, sand, and clay, that can give off the harmful dust while being worked with.
The dust has been labeled as ‘lethal’.
Marzec is not the only former stoneworker that has been diagnosed with the disease, as he pushes to change health and safety measures around the job along with others.
Law firm Leigh Day is representing Marzec and other stoneworkers in this case, after the Polish man was diagnosed in April this year, before seeing his health deteriorate rapidly as a result of the disease.
He is currently being treated at Whittington Hospital in North London, with occupational lung disease expert Doctor Jo Feary taking care of the 48-year-old.
Marzec’s condition is at a critical point, as stoneworkers with the disease have found difficulty breathing and severe disability – a lung transplant is the only way to treat Silicosis.
Leigh Day has highlighted that more safety measures are needed to stop the increasing number of cases of silicosis, which has cost the life of one other stone worker, at least.
A law firm is taking action to change the health and safety measures for stoneworkers (SWNS)
Marzec’s solicitor from Leigh Day, Ewan Tant, explained that if nothing changes, we could see more deaths in the next few years.
Tant said: “This is a tragic case, with my client now on end-of-life care as a result of working with engineered stone, in what he alleges were appalling conditions, totally unfit for purpose.
“No one should end up facing the bleakest of outcomes simply as a result of going to work,” he added.
The solicitor said that they are ‘deeply concerned’ over the ‘appalling’ and ‘potentially fatal’ outcomes that could come to reality in the near future if things stay the same.
From hospital, Marzec explained the ‘terrible pain’ he had been left in, emotionally admitting: “I arrived in the UK hoping to build a better life and wanting to make sure that my young daughters were financially secure.
“Instead, because of the work I did cutting quartz worktops, I have been left unable to breathe and in terrible pain,” the father said.
He went on: “I cannot tell you how angry I am that I was allowed to work in these conditions and that my life has been cut short simply for doing my job.”
Marzen said that he’s ‘not the only person’ who has been affected, saying it’s time for ‘urgent action’ to put a halt to these ‘dangerous working conditions’ before more stoneworkers die.
