'Our boy died after contaminated blood - it's as if his life was worthless'
The devastated parents of a 10-year-old boy who died after being given contaminated blood have slammed the Tories’ failure to pay damages to families.
Colin and Denise Turton’s lives were shattered when son Lee contracted HIV and hepatitis C in one of the worst scandals in NHS history. Some 900 survivors and victims’ partners have been paid interim compensation of £100,000 – but around 2,000 other bereaved parents and orphaned children have been excluded. The families have never been officially told why they were denied pay-outs, but it is thought bereaved partners got priority as they were hit hardest financially.
Heartbroken mum Denise, 63, said it made her feel her son was worthless. She said: “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 total, 1,170 people died after 6,000 patients were given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 80s. Lee, who had the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia, was given the product Factor VIII aged four. He died from AIDS six years later, in 1992.
Parents Denise and Colin (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)Denise said: “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 said the stigma around AIDS then meant they couldn’t talk to anyone.
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, said: “We want a solution after all these years and to be able to enjoy and remember the happy memories spent together.”
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Sir Brian Langstaff, who is heading an inquiry into the scandal, has demanded ministers include parents like the Turtons in the payout scheme. Rishi Sunak suffered a humiliating Commons defeat on Monday, when 30 Tory MPs voted to set up an official compensation body and speed up payouts – but it’s not known if families would still be excluded. The Turtons, who live in Nailsea near Bristol and also have children Kerrie, 40, Robyn, 32, and Jack, 31, said they didn’t understand why the Government held public inquiries if it was not going to act on the recommendations.
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 campaign group Factor 8, said: “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 said: “We understand the strength of feeling and the need for action. We will update on the next steps in the coming weeks.”
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