Death's first whisper came to Dirk Jansema while he was singing in his church choir.

The electrician from Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island had always been fit and healthy, his Sunday-morning voice kept strong by lung-boosting day-long hikes and hours of mountain biking.

But on that day four years ago as he stood in the choir and sang, he found himself short of breath. He thought he must be getting old.

The truth turned out far worse: He was feeling the first symptoms of a disease caused by exposure to asbestos — a mineral that takes decades in the body to do its killing work.