Kurt Hilger may or may not have a deadly time bomb in his body.

At age 14, he followed his father into work at the Cassiar asbestos mine in northern B.C.

Dust from the mine and its two huge tailings piles was "all over the place," Hilger remembers.

"Mom would have to check to see which way the wind was blowing before she put the laundry out." His father Hartmut died painfully three years ago from mesothelioma, prompting Hilger to look into his own risks.