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North Gate

North Gate. By Nigel Cameron HARBERTONFORD artist Nigel Cameron died of an asbestos-related disease, an inquest has found. But exactly how he became exposed to the deadly mineral is likely to remain a mystery. The retired architect turned artist, who was a prominent member of the Totnes art community, died on March 4, aged 84. He was living at his daughter's home near Stroud at the time, where he had moved after he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. His daughter, Katherine Benzinski, told the Gloucester inquest that her father had worked as an architect, notably with Dacorum District Council in Hertfordshire and may have been exposed to asbestos when visiting building sites during the course of his work. Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore said there was no evidence that convinced him that Mr Cameron was exposed to asbestos in his employment rather than socially or domestically. Recording an open verdict, he said: "The evidence is not there." Nigel was a founder and a president of Totnes Art Society, which is celebrating its 25th birthday. He was a poet and sculptor and one of his works, a 12ft high stainless steel and stained glass fish sculpture, went on display at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro. This year Nigel was honoured at Totnes Art Society's annual exhibition when a life drawing section of the show, with the title Nigel's Nudes, was dedicated to his memory. Nigel experienced breathlessness while swimming in May 2009 and was later diagnosed by specialists at Torbay Hospital. He went to live with his daughter in December last year. A post mortem examination carried out by pathologist Dr Pritti Joshi gave the cause of death as malignant mesothelioma. Analysis found 34,687 mineral fibres per gram of dry lung tissue — a low reading but not outside the range of mesothelioma cases, the inquest heard. Read more: http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Open-verdict-artist-exposed-asbestos/story-11709082-detail/story.html#ixzz2eUm16ECA Follow us: @thisisdevonnews on Twitter | thisisdevon on Facebook