Widow of blood victim: 'We were completely broken'

A woman from Bishops Tawton near Barnstaple has described how her life was shattered by the scandal of contaminated blood supplies more than 30 years ago.

Sue Threakall's husband Bob was a haemophiliac who contracted HIV and died six years later.

The impact on her family is still affecting her life today - both financially and emotionally.

She's spent the decades since Bob's death fighting for justice, and is surprised at the news of a government inquiry.

Sue Threakall with her husband Bob Credit: Family

Sue Threakall lost her husband Bob, aged 47, in 1991. He was a father of three who, after his treatment changed to imported blood products, contracted hepatitis B and then C and even HIV. She says she was 'lucky' not to have caught it from him.

Sue's MP, Peter Heaton Jones, shared her story during the parliamentary debate about the scandal. Credit: ITV News

Sue's experiences were read out by her MP, Peter Heaton-Jones, in Parliament during the debate which prompted the government to call for an inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal.

Sue Threakall has been campaigning since 1985. She is co-chair of the campaign group Tainted Blood.

Nearly one in three given the treatment died - 2,400 people.

She believes that while the government has been swift to instigate inquiries after other disasters, until now it's tried to hide away from claims that ministerial decisions could have led to the shortened lives of haemophiliacs like her husband Bob.

  • Watch Richard Lawrence's report on Sue Threakall and her story: