It is with a heavy heart that we pay tribute to Éric Jonckheere, a courageous voice and activist for justice for asbestos victims and a voice for a global ban on asbestos. Éric sadly, passed away on 13th December 2024 after being diagnosed with Mesothelioma in February 2021.

The Jonckheere family have been plagued with an unimaginable suffering due to a high level of asbestos contamination in their village and as Éric described, “overalls continued to be taken back to the thatched cottages and washed by housewives unaware of the dangers to which they and their children were exposed.” Eric is the fifth member of his family to pass away due to a Mesothelioma diagnosis.

Éric was born and raised in a small village of Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Belgium, along with his family. They were unknowingly exposed to high levels of environmental contamination of asbestos in their village. Éric’s father, Pierre-Paul, worked at the Belgian multinational Eternit asbestos-cement factory unknowing that the rest of the family had also been heavily exposed. Pierre contracted Mesothelioma and sadly passed away in 1987. He was 59 years old.

Further tragedy unfolded after Éric’s mother, Francoise, passed away in 2000, his brother Pierre-Paul in 2003, followed by his brother Stéphane in 2009 of Mesothelioma, with Éric himself then being diagnosed with the deadly disease. Éric, his mother and his brothers had never worked at the factory.

Francoise was one of the founding members of ABEVA (The Association of Asbestos Victims in Belgium) and Eric and his brothers promised their mother that they would continue the work of ABEVA, along with the fight for justice. Éric pledged to be a voice and to seek justice for asbestos victims to achieved a global ban on asbestos. He made a magnificent contribution to that struggle and travelled all over the world to share his story and to raise awareness of the dangers of asbestos. He published his book titled “Asbestos- My War With The Devil’s Dust” which tells the family’s tragic story.

Éric is a great loss to the global ban on asbestos campaign however his legacy is the knowledge that the campaign continues to grow after all the tragic deaths to his family and eventually taking his own life as well.

Our sympathies go to his family and friends across the world.