Woman shares about living with asbestos for over a year
By: Chelsea Rarrick
Updated: April 30, 2012
Joann Giacona says she has been living in her Utica home for about 40 years.
She says back in October 2010 she accidentally overflowed her kitchen sink and was too much to clean up so she called her insurance company.
Joann says her insurance company had a professional cleaning service come to her home to check it out, and Joann says that's when the asbestos was dug up.
"When I came back in the kitchen, there was a piece of wood over by the heat vent, it was covering asbestos. I don't know why but that boy uncovered that little piece of asbestos to see underneath the kitchen," said Giacona.
She says she was in the other room at the time the discovery was made and when she came back into the kitchen, Joann says that's when she noticed a cloudy look in the room.
"It was getting so think I couldn't see in the kitchen, I could barely see the boy standing at the kitchen table," she said.
Joann says after she immediately called her insurance company for help, and she says they argued with her that it was not asbestos.
"I begged them for days, help me, get me out of here, I don't want to breathe this....they made me sit here for days in the asbestos," she said.
She says she insurance company eventually hired someone to test the house and she says it was confirmed that there was asbestos.
She says she was put up in a rental house, but soon after was asked to moved and and she says that's when she hired a lawyer, and she says she was dropped by her insurance company.
When told she couldn't go back to her home, or stay in the rental, Joann says she felt trapped.
She says her and her lawyer got to a preliminary hearing, and her lawyer quit a few months ago.
Now, her case has not gone to trial.
"I think they should pay me the policy, and he did too, I don't know what made him change his mind," she said.
It is important to point out that as a night side reporter, Eyewitness News tried to contact the cleaning company and lawyer but have not yet received a response.
We will continue to follow up on this story and bring you the other parties' sides as soon as it becomes available.
She says back in October 2010 she accidentally overflowed her kitchen sink and was too much to clean up so she called her insurance company.
Joann says her insurance company had a professional cleaning service come to her home to check it out, and Joann says that's when the asbestos was dug up.
"When I came back in the kitchen, there was a piece of wood over by the heat vent, it was covering asbestos. I don't know why but that boy uncovered that little piece of asbestos to see underneath the kitchen," said Giacona.
She says she was in the other room at the time the discovery was made and when she came back into the kitchen, Joann says that's when she noticed a cloudy look in the room.
"It was getting so think I couldn't see in the kitchen, I could barely see the boy standing at the kitchen table," she said.
Joann says after she immediately called her insurance company for help, and she says they argued with her that it was not asbestos.
"I begged them for days, help me, get me out of here, I don't want to breathe this....they made me sit here for days in the asbestos," she said.
She says she insurance company eventually hired someone to test the house and she says it was confirmed that there was asbestos.
She says she was put up in a rental house, but soon after was asked to moved and and she says that's when she hired a lawyer, and she says she was dropped by her insurance company.
When told she couldn't go back to her home, or stay in the rental, Joann says she felt trapped.
She says her and her lawyer got to a preliminary hearing, and her lawyer quit a few months ago.
Now, her case has not gone to trial.
"I think they should pay me the policy, and he did too, I don't know what made him change his mind," she said.
It is important to point out that as a night side reporter, Eyewitness News tried to contact the cleaning company and lawyer but have not yet received a response.
We will continue to follow up on this story and bring you the other parties' sides as soon as it becomes available.
