'My family was ripped away from me': Southport man orphaned in the infected blood scandal

• Ann O'Connor speaks to Sam Rushby from Southport who lost all three members of his close family to infected blood.

A man who lost his entire family aged three as a result of the infected blood scandal says he is desperately looking for some kind of closure from the public inquiry report.

Sam Rushby saw his mother, father and sister all die within a year after being affected by contaminated blood.

His haemophiliac father Gary had received contaminated Factor 8, a clotting agent derived from blood plasma, and had no idea it made him HIV positive.

He then unknowingly passed it to his wife Lesley and their new baby girl Abbey.

The youngster died aged just four-months-old, while her 23-year-old mother Lesley died in 1994, followed by Gary in 1995 at the age of 34.

All had AIDS related conditions.

"Basically my whole family were torn away from me," he said.

"[Dad] watched his four-month-old daughter die, then he watched his wife die and he knew he was going to die. It's just horrific."

ITVX: Infected Blood Inquiry: The 'worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS' >

Now, decades later, Sam is calling on the government to pay compensation to all those whose lives have been blighted by what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history.

"I feel so, so guilty that my sister died while I survived. But one thing I know is I'm here now to get justice for them," he added.

Thirty thousand people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C, including 380 children - 3,000 have died.

"People are dying every day, what are they waiting for," he says, accusing ministers of dragging their feet on payouts that could amount to £40 billion before a general election.

A long-awaited report was published Monday 20 May following the Infected Blood Inquiry which heard evidence from hundreds of witnesses from 2019 to 2023.

It was told Factor 8 was considered a wonder drug in the 1970s because it allowed haemophiliacs to inject themselves at home rather than going to hospital.

The plasma-derived product helped clotting and curbed the bleeding from minor injuries that haemophiliacs experienced.

But demand was so high that the NHS had to turn to drug companies in the United States for supplies. In the US donations were paid for, attracting those desperate for cash.

Drug addicts, sex workers and alcoholics were among those regularly giving blood, increasing the risk of that supply being infected.

The inquiry's heard allegations of a cover-up of the mistakes made, including the warnings that came from the United States about the rising risk of infections.

Sam has had thousands of signatures on a petition calling for compensation to be paid to those infected and those affected by the loss of family members.

Speaking of those who continued to supply Factor8 despite knowing the risks, he said: "I think they should be in prison.

"If you or I did it, we'd be locked up so why is it okay for higher officials to get away with it?"

A spokesperson for the UK Government said: "This was an appalling tragedy that never should have happened. We are clear that justice needs to be done, and swiftly.

"This includes establishing a new body to deliver an Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, it will have all the funding needed to deliver compensation once they have identified the victims and assessed claims.

"We will continue to listen carefully to the community as we address this dreadful scandal."

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