Infected blood survivor living with HIV sues to get answers for friends whose lives were 'destroyed'
A former pupil at a Hampshire school at the centre of the infected blood scandal says he made a promise to his dying school friends he would get answers.
Adrian Goodyear, was among 100 children to be given contaminated blood in the 1970s and 80s.
Unlike all but 17 of his fellow school pupils at Treloar's in Alton, he survived.
He has told ITV Meridian he made a promise to his former schoolfriends who died to get answers, as he and fellow survivors launched legal action on Monday.
Adrian was among the pupils infected with HIV and Hepatitis during routine treatment for hemophilia at Treloar's, in what's been described as the biggest medical disaster in the history of the NHS.
Today former pupils and families of those who died formally submitted legal action against the school for alleged failures in its duty of care.
Adrian said, "I want to achieve accountability for what happened to all of us boys at Treloars.
"We need them to understand, you can't just send people to a boarding school, infect them repeatedly with various viruses, in my case Hepatitis and HIV, and not even call the children's parents.
He added, "They didn't even lift up the phone in the nine years I was there.
"When I look back, I'm confused about how they treated us, because it's not right to treat people in society or children in that way.
"Some of the lads died by the age of 25, and their families lives were also destroyed.
Adrian Goodyear, former Treloars pupil
Gary Webster, 56, from Eastleigh, was one of a number of schoolboys infected with HIV and hepatitis during routine treatment for hemophilia at an NHS unit within Treloars.
He said: "Why didn’t our headmaster or other teachers want to know what was being injected into pupils in their care at the time?
"No one at the school seemed to show the slightest curiosity over what treatment was being prescribed to us young kids nor, I now know, did they seek parental permission.It beggars belief.
"We have witnessed the deaths of so many friends while experiencing truly awful life-affecting consequences as a result of unnecessarily contracting these illnesses, is really difficult to comprehend and accept.
"We hope that by bringing this case such trauma can never happen to anyone else.”
Des Collins, Senior Partner, Collins Solicitors, which is advising former pupils said: “We are bringing this action following new evidence heard last year at the Infected Blood Inquiry.
"The extraordinary testimonies of Treloar’s former headmaster, house master, care staff and clinicians at the hospital attached to the school made clear a total abrogation of responsibility which has had immense repercussions for my clients.
“The harrowing stories from surviving pupils describing their suffering over the decades makes for deeply uncomfortable listening. Where were even the most basic of safeguards for these children when they were pumped full of blood products of clearly dubious origin?
Des Collins, Senior Partner, Collins Solicitors
He added, "The school was acting in loco parentis, yet failed in its basic duty of care to these already vulnerable boys.
"We are determined that they receive recognition and due recompense for the trauma they and their families have suffered over decades, if they were fortunate enough to survive.
"This treatment tragedy must be exposed so that nothing like it can ever be allowed to happen again.”