Former soldier Ken McGinley, who had lung and kidney cancer, was present at five nuclear bomb tests during his military service on Christmas Island in the late 1950s.
Ken McGinley, who had lung and kidney cancer, was present at five nuclear bomb tests during his military service on Christmas Island in the late 1950s. The former soldier launched a campaign in the 1980s after he noticed that many of his comrades suffered similar health conditions to him.
She said: "What he managed to squeeze into that 85 years was quite incredible ... He lived a life marked by resilience, dedication and an unwavering commitment to justice. Ken was a key figure in setting up the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association in 1983, of which he served as chairman for a number of years. Provost Cameron explained: "His advocacy actually began after his own experience as a British serviceman who was exposed to nuclear testing in the 1950s.
"Ken's iconic campaign for justice and accountability began in 1982 with the realisation that many of his local fellow veterans at the experimental nuclear tests suffered from the same or similar health conditions as he did. That realisation ignited a 41-year accountability movement after he wrote a simple letter to the readers' page of the Daily Record in Glasgow asking if any of its readers suffered similar health problems after such tests.
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