Teacher Lea DiRusso knows she won’t survive mesothelioma, but hopes Philadelphia schools makes good on its promise to protect students and staff from asbestos. Lea DiRusso stared at the form in front of her, stuck on the words her doctor wrote to explain why she had to retire early from her career as a Philadelphia School District teacher: … [Read more...]
Philly School District poised to pay $850K to teacher diagnosed with mesothelioma
Lea DiRusso, the career city teacher diagnosed last year with a deadly asbestos-linked cancer, is in line to be paid $850,000 by the Philadelphia School District. The school board on Thursday night will consider a resolution allowing the district “to execute, deliver, and perform a settlement agreement” with DiRusso and Amr Osman, her husband, … [Read more...]
Cancer in the classroom
[Lea DiRusso was exposed to asbestos while teaching at schools for nearly 30 years, then this teacher is diagnosed with mesothelioma.] Every week during the school year, teacher Lea DiRusso climbed on a chair and hung her students’ best work on a clothesline strung between two old heating pipes. As she tugged the line down to clip on artwork or … [Read more...]
More than 200 teachers died from asbestos – and kids are at risk in classroom
More than 200 teachers have died in the past 10 years from the effects of being exposed to asbestos. And for each teacher fatality, nine ex-pupils can also be expected to fall victim to the silent killer, a study claims – an average of almost 200 per year. Breathing in asbestos fibres can lead to mesothelioma, a cancer that develops in the … [Read more...]