Doug Larkin, Linda Reinstein, TC McNamara and Tom Taylor
My family and I are encouraged to see our Californian State Senate and Assembly Committee on Natural Resources unanimously vote to pass SB 624 for final consideration. ADAO Press Release.
For the past five years my family has been dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of asbestos and specifically its affect on my family.
In 2007, I lost my husband of more than thirty years, John McNamara, to mesothelioma, a disease caused from exposure to asbestos. We lived and received care in Los Angeles. Though we hoped and prayed that John would be the exception, we knew that eventually my husband, a deeply loved father of three young girls, would not survive. Our words will never convey the loss, pain, and anguish we endure daily, but we know that we must continue to raise our voice for those, like John, who cannot.
We believe that the current California state rock, serpentine, is an insult to our family and the thousands of people who have died from asbestos-related diseases in California. We will continue to work with the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADA) and the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute on this important initiative to remove serpentine as the Californian State Rock, allowing California to demonstrate that the public health of residents are more important than a symbolic rock.
In hope and unity,
TC McNamara, John McNamara Foundation Co-Founder and Mesothelioma Widow