‘Our boy died after contaminated blood – it is as if his life was nugatory’

The devastated mother and father of a 10-year-old boy who died after being given contaminated blood have slammed the Tories’ failure to pay damages to households.

Colin and Denise Turton’s lives had been shattered when son Lee contracted HIV and hepatitis C in one of many worst scandals in NHS historical past. Some 900 survivors and victims’ companions have been paid interim compensation of £100,000 – however round 2,000 different bereaved mother and father and orphaned youngsters have been excluded. The households have by no means been ­formally informed why they had been denied pay-outs, however it’s thought bereaved companions obtained precedence as they had been hit hardest financially.

Heartbroken mum Denise, 63, mentioned it made her really feel her son was nugatory. She mentioned: “Lee paid with his life and we assumed he would be acknowledged. The way he and other children have been excluded makes it feel as though their lives meant nothing.” In complete, 1,170 individuals died after 6,000 sufferers got contaminated blood merchandise within the Nineteen Seventies and 80s. Lee, who had the blood-clotting dysfunction haemophilia, was given the product Factor VIII aged 4. He died from AIDS six years later, in 1992.

Denise mentioned: “There was no help offered during Lee’s illness or to deal with the grief when he passed away – I don’t know how we carried on. In the last few years Lee was really poorly – we spent most of our lives in and out of the hospital.” The mum mentioned the stigma round AIDS then meant they couldn’t discuss to anybody.

She added: “He was given the disease and went through the same illnesses and the same pain as everyone else and he died when he was just 10 – so why does his life not matter?” Husband Colin, 65, mentioned: “We want a solution after all these years and to be able to enjoy and remember the happy memories spent together.”

Sir Brian Langstaff, who’s heading an inquiry into the scandal, has demanded ministers embrace mother and father just like the Turtons within the payout scheme. Rishi Sunak suffered a humiliating Commons defeat on Monday, when 30 Tory MPs voted to arrange an official compensation physique and pace up payouts – however it’s not recognized if households would nonetheless be excluded. The Turtons, who dwell in Nailsea close to Bristol and now have youngsters Kerrie, 40, Robyn, 32, and Jack, 31, mentioned they didn’t perceive why the Government held public inquiries if it was not going to behave on the suggestions.

Denise added: “But we will keep going, because if Lee hadn’t been infected he would still be here today and he would have a future.” Jason Evans, of marketing campaign group Factor 8, mentioned: “For the Government to have denied two-thirds of bereaved families that acknowledgement, purely because their loved one was not in a relationship at the time of their death, is entirely wrong and immoral.”

A Government spokesman mentioned: “We understand the strength of feeling and the need for action. We will update on the next steps in the coming weeks.”