Contaminated blood victims 'still suffering'
A victim of the infected blood scandal from Cheshire is hoping the outcome of a report will bring closure
Last updated 17th May 2024
A victim of the contaminated blood scandal from Warrington says she is still suffering, decades on.
Thousands of people died in the 1970s and 80s after being given unscreened blood, contaminated with HIV and Hepatitis C.
The Infected Blood Inquiry was ordered almost seven years ago by then Prime Minister Theresa May to look into the circumstances in which people treated by health services were given infected blood. A report into the scandal is finally set to be published on Monday 20 May.
Dena Peacock from Warrington found out she had Hepatitis C in 2017, 35 years after she would have contracted it. She said: "Gradually I just started getting very fatigued and brain fog, I kept going to the doctors and they kept going 'you're a single mum, you're working, what do you expect?' but to me, being in bed for two days at a time wasn't normal.
"The government knew what they were doing. They knew the blood was infected. They chose not to invest money to treat the blood all those years ago. I was expendable. My life to the government isn't worth anything as far as I'm concerned.
"The government need(s) to act now, so at least what bit of life we've got we can have a bit of quality and not be worn out. At the minute it's like dangling a carrot for us and it's exhausting, so please let's have closure."