Roger Blackman was a carpenter and joiner all his working life. It was his career and his hobby but little did he know that this passion would lead to his untimely death.

Roger died from mesothelioma, a terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibres, just five weeks after he was diagnosed. It was while he was at work, doing the job he loved, that Roger became exposed.

Like many tradesmen, Roger worked with asbestos and never knew the risks. In the 1960s he worked on a year-long refurbishment project at a cinema. It was during this time that he was removing asbestos lagging from pipes and was constantly in a dusty atmosphere. He knew what material he was working with, but didn't know it would end up killing him.

During the refurbishment at the cinema, Roger was covered in asbestos dust. Sandra, Roger's widow, recalls his coming home in dusty overalls: "He would come home with dust all over his work clothes. I used to wash them for him. Neither of us had any idea how deadly this dust was."

Like many tradesmen at the time, Roger never had training on the dangers of working with asbestos and so never knew the risks. Sandra even remembers tales of him cutting up asbestos sheeting. He had no protective clothing, no mask and no information about the hazardous substance he was coming into contact with every day.

In February 2004, Roger fell ill. He had pain in his shoulders and a cough. He had many tests at the hospital, all around the time of Sandra's birthday. An x-ray showed calcification on the lung and a CT scan after hospitalisation showed spots on the brain.

Roger and Sandra went to hospital on 1st April for the test results and were told the news that made their world fall apart - Roger had mesothelioma.

He was admitted to hospital and only managed to return home for two short visits before his death. His condition deteriorated quickly and five weeks later Roger died.

His death has had an enormous impact on his family. He missed his daughter's wedding and has never met his three grandchildren. Sandra found his sudden death difficult to cope with and now volunteers with a local hospice to provide support to victims and families affected by mesothelioma.

Stephen, Roger and Sandra's son, was particularly upset by his father's death. He had been living in Northern Ireland at the time and had no idea his father's death would come so quickly.

Stephen said: "I felt isolated from the family because I went back to Northern Ireland straight away. All the doctors were saying it would take 6 to 12 months, 18 if you're lucky. We never thought it would be as little as five weeks so I went back to work. He went downhill so quickly while I was away that by the time I came back, he was pretty much unconscious for the last week. I felt I missed out on that precious time with him."

Sandra has a message for tradesmen who are at risk today: "I can see that young people today would find it hard to make the link between the work they do now and an illness they may get in 40 years time but it is so important that they understand. There is so much to lose. Roger was 61 and looking forward to retirement and spending time with his family but because of this disease he will never know his grandchildren. That is one of the hardest things."

Sandra is backing the Health and Safety Executive's Hidden Killer campaign, which launches nationwide on 2nd November 2009. The campaign aims to raise awareness among tradesman of the risks posed by asbestos and will target plumbers, electricians, joiners and other general maintenance workers with the hard-hitting fact that every week on average 20 tradesmen die from this hidden killer. Tradesmen need to understand the risks and their rights when working with asbestos, and take action to protect themselves so they don't end up exposed to asbestos like Roger.