Editor
At least 175 youngsters with the blood dysfunction haemophilia had been contaminated with HIV within the Nineteen Eighties, in line with paperwork from the nationwide archives seen by BBC News. Some of the households affected are giving proof at a public inquiry into what has been referred to as the worst therapy catastrophe within the historical past of the NHS.
It was nearly 36 years in the past – in late October 1986 – however Linda will always remember the day she was informed her son had been contaminated.
She had been referred to as right into a consulting room in Birmingham Children’s Hospital, with 16-year-old Michael.
As a toddler, he had been recognized with haemophilia, a genetic dysfunction that stopped his blood clotting correctly.
Linda assumed the assembly was to debate transferring his care to the primary Queen Elizabeth Hospital within the metropolis.
“It was so routine that my husband stayed within the automotive outdoors,” she says.
“Then, swiftly, the physician stated, ‘Of course, Michael is HIV constructive,’ and he got here out with it like he was speaking concerning the climate outdoors. My abdomen simply fell.
“We obtained within the automotive, I informed my husband and we had been silent all the way in which house. We by no means spoke – it was such a shock.”
