Philadelphia legend succumbs to mesotheliomaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania - The death of Frank Bender has left a hole in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a prominent and well-respected local celebrity. Bender created clay busts of John and Jane Does solely by examining their skeletal remains, thereby helping investigators identify dozens of corpses. He was arguably the world's best-known forensic sculptor, until mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the body’s major organs and cavities caused by prolonged asbestos exposure, claimed his life.
Bender suffered from the most common type of this fatal cancer, pleural mesothelioma, which specifically affects the lining of the lungs. Bender suspected that he’d been exposed to asbestos while sleeping in a Navy destroyer escort's engine room in the 1950’s. Asbestos is used in shipbuilding, and navy mesothelioma, which affects many veterans, is a known result of living asbestos use in military vessels.
When Bender’s mesothelioma was diagnosed, doctors gave him only eight months to live, a not uncommon prognosis. That was in 2009. Bender remained healthy and very active through the first half of 2011, but by the beginning of the summer, his health began to deteriorate. Despite losing a large amount of weight and having increased difficulty breathing, Bender, at the age of 70, was determined to work one final case, that of a woman whose remains had been found a decade ago near Easton, Pennsylvania.
"I always wanted to serve a purpose," said Bender prior to his death. "It's only now I've realized what I've done." Although the artist will be greatly missed, it is comforting to know that he lived life to the fullest, inspired those around him and left his mark.
