Infected blood scandal: Mum recalls 'cold way' she and her teenage son found out he had HIV
"They said: 'You know Michael's got HIV don't you?'"
Linda Woolliscroft recalls the 'cold way' that she and her 17-year-old son Michael Price, who had haemophilia, were given the devastating news by a doctor at Birmingham Children's Hospital (BCH).
"I just had this weird feeling go through me. I didn't really say a lot, I wish I had now but I was in a bit of shock.
"And going home, Michael was in the back of the car and no one spoke. We never spoke a word all the way home."
Two years earlier Linda had been called to a meeting at BCH with other parents and warned about the problem with blood products from America which she was told had been used to treat some haemophiliacs. But when she checked, she was reassured that her son was fine.
Michael died a week before his 26th birthday at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham in 1995.
On his death certificate there was no mention of HIV or Hepatitis C. When she gave evidence to the Blood Inquiry, Linda said she was told HIV could not be written on his death certificate and that a special mark was put on instead so that medics could understand what it meant.
From Wolverhampton but a passionate West Bromwich Albion supporter, it seemed fitting to meet Linda at the Hawthorns, the home of the football club he loved and spent so much time as a child and young adult.
"It was a big part of his life, the main part of his life. I've still got all his programmes, all in order. I don't know what I'm going to do with them."
Linda told me the way Michael coped was to keep his diagnosis secret. A positive person, he was determined to make the most of the time he had, travelling the world and attending as many of his team's matches as he could even seeing them play - and win - at Wembley when he was very ill.
Near the end the pair who were extremely close had difficult conversations. "He said: 'I'm going to die, aren't I mum?' I mean, what do you say? I said: 'Well if you do, I'll follow you' and he said:'No, you've got your life to live. I often think of that."
After his death, Linda didn't feel able to return to her job and for a long time couldn't cry.
While at the football ground, Linda reunited with three of Michael's close friends who he'd met through The Albion; Russell 'Fozzy' Foster, Manish Patel and Mark Wilson. He kept his diagnosis from them for years and they only found out shortly before his death.
Mark said: "I think at the time if we look back to the Eighties and Nineties, the stigma around HIV was really strong. There were terrible adverts. I think he definitely feared we would treat him differently or even stopped being his friends and stopped hanging around with him if we'd have known. Nothing could be further from the truth. But I do understand."
Manish agreed:"You know it was a choice he made and we would respect that."
Russell added:"It must have been so hard for him not to be able to tell us. But he was no different to us. He was just Mike and you stick by your friends don't you."
The trio recalled how their friendship with Michael went a lot deeper than football. They shared the same sense of humour and music.
Russell said: "We were into 'Only Fools and Horses' and 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' and you'd get him saying things out of the show. We'd be in stitches laughing about it.
"He was just a funny guy to be around. You never saw him in a bad mood or anything. He was always happy."
Michael never got the chance to have his own family and bring them to The Hawthorns on match days. His death was announced in the club's programme and today a memorial brick outside the East stand bears his name.
Linda wears a locket around her neck which contains Michael's photo and a lock of his hair which she never takes off. She always keeps it closed to protect what's inside but a few hours before our interview she woke up in the middle of the night to a shock.
"It was about three in the morning and I always touch it to make sure it's there. But it was open like a book, flat on my chest and it's never open. And then I remembered I was coming here today so I think it was a sign from Michael that he was going to be with me."
The pair were incredibly close. He was her only child. Once she realised she was a carrier of haemophilia she decided not to have any more children. Linda has now been fighting for justice for more years than Michael lived.
Matthew Boazman, Chief Executive of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “On behalf of our Trust today I would like to offer our apologies to all of the families affected.
"What took place at that time has caused unimaginable pain and our heartfelt sympathies go out to all those individuals and their families that have been impacted.
“We welcome the findings and recommendations of this important inquiry, which havehighlighted several historical practices across the country that were wrong.
“Importantly, changes to standards regarding the supply of blood mean that our country is now one of the safest in the world but we know that will offer little comfort to those affected and to who we are truly sorry.”
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