A Suffolk woman says victims of the infected blood scandal "should be given respect and support"
The report will come out tomorrow "The Biggest Treatment Disaster in NHS History".
Families of victims of the contaminated blood scandal have described the anguish and persecution they have faced as they await the final report of the independent inquiry.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood during the 1970s and 80s in what is known as "The Biggest Treatment Disaster in NHS History".
The consequences of this time have continued to impact those infected at the time as well as their families.
We've been speaking to those in Suffolk who have been effected by this.
"My Mum was Judged and Treated like an Experiment."
Susan Wakeling from Bramford near Ipswich was given infected blood in 1972 after experiencing complications whilst giving birth to her daughter Debbie Kemp.
It was nearly 30 years later before they found out Susan had received contaminated blood in 2000, resulting in her contracting Hepatitis C.
She found out whilst giving blood, something she had done several times before, but on this occasion, they saw Susan had the antibodies in her blood.
This was linked back to her blood transfusion, which used blood imported from the United States which had not been fully screened.
According to The Hepatitis C Trust, more than 3,000 people died after contracting the disease, while 30,000 became severely ill.
Debbie told us that when she and her sister were told of their Mum's diagnosis, it was "downplayed" but they weren't to tell anyone else as they had been warned they would be treated differently and "shunned" from the community.
Rather, they were to "carry on as normal and not share things which could cross-contaminate each other."
Because of this, they didn't realise the seriousness of the condition at the time.
"They should be given respect and they should be given support."
Debbie also remarked how her mother wasn't offered any "counselling or support" after her diagnosis.
Instead medical professionals accused her of doing drugs and taking part in "unsavory other ways people were contracting those types of diseases at that time."
Debbie recalled that when she and her sister went to appointments with their Mum, how she would "recoil" when they spoke this way about her.
And so Debbie and her sister would speak up for her, and say that it was through contaminated blood from the NHS, that caused her to have Hepatitis C.
Debbie Kemp from Great Blakenham witnessed her Mum, Susan Wakeling from Bramford near Ipswich be poorly treated by medical professionals who "didn't take the time to learn" why Susan had Hepatitis C.
They became more "protective of her and who she was" so no one in the community would find out, to avoid anyone else "judging her" or "thinking badly of her."
"My mum must have associated it with childbirth because ever since she gave birth to me, she never felt like herself again"
Debbie remembers how "resilient" her mum was.
How hard she worked, volunteering in the community and holding a respectful potion at BT all the while unknowingly fighting a disease without any medical help at this point.
"It became a way of life that she always felt tired, she always felt worn out. She had to go to bed early. She must have thought well this is just my lot now, I am just not very well."
Apart of Debbie is angry it took so long for her diagnosis to be recognised and worries about how many other people were "contaminated" through people giving blood donations who didn't know they had the virus.
Unfortunately for them all, a late diagnosis happened again.
Susan began to suffer from a horrible cough, loss of strength and IBS symptoms, which were later found to be caused by cancer of the small bowel.
It took months for Doctors to acknowledge what was causing all of the issues she was facing. At that time, they neglected to do a colonoscopy and endoscopy.
Despite intensive chemo, Mrs Wakeling passed away in October 2023 at the age of 73, meaning she is missing out on hearing the report. Susan knew when the report was delayed last year she didn't have long left and according to Debbie was "devastated" she would not see "people be held accountable for the infected blood scandal."
"The grief of losing Mum is still so raw"
Debbie and her family have had to face their grief alongside monitoring the inquiry into the contaminated blood, hoping they will have justice.
She hopes the awareness campaign has shown people, those infected "are victims and they're real people and they're not contaminated and dirty."