Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon. Sunny San Francisco. It sounds like a dream trip to some of America’s most wonderful travel destinations. But for one woman, the trip was bittersweet. Debbie Johnson and her husband Ian took their dream trip all over America with money gifted to them from Debbie’s father, John Wood. Mr. Wood contracted mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer with no known cure. With the money Mr. Wood won from his lawsuit against his former employer, he financed a whirlwind trip across America, a trip that took him thousands of miles from his native England.

"He was generous his whole life. He was a great role model and he enjoyed every second of that trip, and we did too. It was so kind of him," said Debbie."Dad went to America once before and he always wanted to go back. With the compensation money he could and it was just like him to offer to take us with him. He packed a lot into his life. He will be remembered fondly by a lot of people. And even in his last year, he let nothing stop him loving life."

According to Dr. Robert Hunter, Derby and South Derbyshire Coroner, "He [Mr. Wood] had worked in a place where there was asbestos present. As a painter and decorator, he would have to rub down these furnishings which contained the material."

His other daughter, Diane Evans, added: “The surgery was a risk, he knew that, and he was really ill just after it. But he came through both chemotherapy and radiotherapy and it was only in the last few months of his life that he started to suffer.”

Mesothelioma is a fatal cancer that takes the lives of most patients in less than two years, even those who undergo mesothelioma treatment such as the methods chosen by Mr. Wood.