‘My lovely son died of asbestos-related cancer at 20 – no-one knows why’

Liam with his brother Harry and uncle Wayne. The pair are taking part in a charity football match in his honour this summer (Picture: Nicola Anderson/Cover Media)

A mother who lost her son to an asbestos-related cancer aged just 20 says years of misdiagnosis meant it was found too late.

Liam Exley was ‘as fit as anything’ until he started developing ‘gunky’ fluid on his lungs at age 17 in 2021.

He had various procedures to drain it and doctors at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), in Norfolk, diagnosed him with pericarditis, the swelling of the tissue around his heart.

They prescribed an anti-inflammatory and Liam continued to be in and out of hospital having fluid drained, including an ei...