Mother given infected blood screamed during 'harrowing treatment', says distraught daughter
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The daughter of a Londoner who died from Hepatitis C has spoken of her anger after hearing the findings of the inquiry into the infected blood scandal.
Rosadean Dore, who came to Britain from her native St Kitts in the Caribbean to work as a nurse, died in 1997.
Her daughter Annette gave evidence to the inquiry. Mrs Dean is believed to have been infected when she was given blood transfusions during childbirth.
Speaking to ITV News London Annette Dore said: "I don't think I'll ever, ever get over it because I sat through those treatments and held her hand and she screamed - she screamed.
"Those treatments were harrowing to put a needle through somebody into their lungs, to draw fluid off almost every day.
"And she'd squeeze my hands and she'd scream."
A highly critical inquiry found the infected blood scandal "could largely have been avoided" and there was a "pervasive" cover-up to hide the truth.
Deliberate attempts were made to conceal the disaster, including evidence of Whitehall officials destroying documents, the Infected Blood Inquiry found.
Patients were knowingly exposed to unacceptable risks of infection, the probe found.
The 2,527-page report documents a “catalogue of failures” which had “catastrophic” consequences, not only among people infected with contaminated blood and blood products, but also their loved ones.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to make an apology in the House of Commons later on Monday.
Annette, who lives in Borehamwood, said an apology wouldn't bring her mother back, adding: "They always apologize, that's the problem. It doesn't feel real.
"I'm not the only person. There are people that have lost their lives with children - children now without either parent.
"The trickle affect it has and the impact it has on families - for example my father died [from an unrelated condition] a year after my mum in the same month, and both of them were only 54 years of age."
More than 30,000 people were infected with deadly viruses while they were receiving NHS care between the 1970s and 1990s, in a disaster described by inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff as a “calamity”.
Sir Brian said “the scale of what happened is horrifying”, with more than 3,000 people dead as a result and survivors battling for decades to uncover the truth.
Speaking about her mother's rapid decline in health Annette Dore said: "We watched her decline. After the first year she was getting increasingly tired.
"I just remember the day that she was leaving the house because I got home from work, and I went into her room, and she was just breathing, really heavy.
"And her whole chest, it was like it was rattling."
Much of the responsibility for failures identified in the report lie with successive governments, which failed to act in order to save face and expense, the inquiry said, with the current Government criticised for failing to act immediately on recommendations around compensation which were made last year.
Ministers have earmarked around £10 billion for a compensation package for those affected, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday.
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