9 Jul 2019

Cancer victim should have been given ACC cover - High Court

From Morning Report, 8:19 am on 9 July 2019

The High Court has ruled ACC should have covered a woman who died of a cancer caused by inhaling asbestos as a child.

Deanna Trevarthen was 45 when she died in 2016, after being exposed to asbestos as a child when she would hug her electrician father and would play at his work sites.

ACC denied her cover, saying her cancer needed to be the result of exposure in the workplace.

But the High Court has ruled her claim was a personal injury caused by an accident to her.

Ms Trevarthen's sister-in-law is Angela Calver. She talks to Philippa Tolley.