A haemophiliac infected with hep C by the NHS 55 years ago is demanding the UK Government speeds up compensation payouts for sufferers who are dying at a rate of one every four days.
Bruce Norval, 58, fears Downing Street is in no hurry to start paying out as the Government faces a £12billion bill, with every death likely to reduce that bill. Bruce believes justice is coming thanks to Sir Brian Langstaff, chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, but is angry that he is still waiting.
He said: “I was three when I was abducted into this project. What would you pay a soldier who had to fight a battle constantly for 55 years?
“I’d like to say it’s not about money but, at my age and after having to fight for every crumb of comfort for 33 years, there’s not really anything else that can improve my life and compensate my wife and kids.”
Bruce was 26 when he was first told he had contracted hepatitis C, a liver disease that causes cirrhosis and can be fatal.
He said: “My wife was five months pregnant. I’d had a whole series of tests to make sure I wasn’t HIV positive but now I was left, still in treatment, wondering if I’d infected my wife with hepatitis.
“She was healthy, happy and looking forward to being a mother but I had to tell her she needed to have a test for hepatitis, and that maybe everything we hoped for might be ruined.”
Bruce might have expected to have 40 years of earnings and pension contributions from a usual working life but doesn’t think he has managed four. The long bouts of sickness that have punctuated his life cost him job after job.
Bruce has had heart surgery recently and has put on weight, adding: “I have no idea how much time I have left with my wife and family. Those of us infected by blood products are dying at a rate of just about two a week. We’re running out of time. We need action now.”
Bruce remains angry at how infected blood products continued to be used, he believes, for many years after evidence first linked them to HIV and hepatitis C infections.
He will continue to shout for justice and said: “Sir Brian has recently instructed the Government to make awards to the parents of victims who died, and to start making interim payments in September, but no commitment has been given yet.
“I just hope now ministers will be persuaded to do the right thing. I understand it could cost somewhere around £12billion, roughly what they wrote off on faulty PPE provided by their mates during the pandemic.”
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