HIV sufferer in battle for compensation
AN HIV sufferer from Ipswich today told of his 20 year struggle for compensation after he was given contaminated blood distributed by the government.
AN HIV sufferer from Ipswich today told of his 20 year struggle for compensation after he was given contaminated blood distributed by the government.
Colin - not his real name - was one of more than 4,000 haemophilia patients infected with hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s by commercially manufactured blood products from the USA. Of those, 1,243 contracted HIV in a similar way.
Almost 2,000 people have since died in what a recently published report called a “horrific human tragedy.”
Colin is the only patient with both conditions still alive in Suffolk.
Today, after 20 years of suffering, his long-battle for compensation looks finally to be over after an inquiry recommended those still alive should receive pay-outs from the government.
He said: “I've had my car bricked and had other stuff chucked at the window.
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“When the kids went to school people shouted 'Your dad's a drug runner'.
“At one point my wife threatened to leave me.
“Twenty years is a long time to wait for an apology.”
- For more on this story see tonight's Evening Star or the 3pm web edition.
