Infected blood: Parents of Colin Smith say they want closure after his death

Colin and Janet Smith say they want closure after a 30 year battle for recognition.

The parents of a boy who died after contracting HIV from infected blood products say they "just want closure".

Colin and Janet Smith have been trying to get recognition for more than 30 years since their son died.

Mrs Smith said the fight nearly led her taking her own life, adding "it was only the other kids screaming 'mummy, mummy don't' that brought me back".

Mum of infected blood victim 'over the moon' as families finally 'recognised'
Colin Smith was two-years-old when his parents found out he had contracted HIV. Credit: Family photo

She added: "I thought I've got three other kids, they needed me and that's literally what brought me back."

Victims who received the infected blood have been given regular compensation payments.

Last October, they were told they'd be receiving a one-off payment of £100,000 by the UK government.

But bereaved parents, as well the children of victims of the infected blood scandal, have never received financial recognition for the suffering they've endured.

Colin's father, Colin, said: "There's lots of children out there who've lost their parents. Some of them have lost both their parents."

Patients requiring blood transfusions were infected with blood-borne diseases including HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Credit: ITV Archive National Library of Wales

He added: "They're financially struggling because a lot of them were 12 or 13 years old when their parents died."

Colin had been treated with contaminated Factor VIII clotting agent imported from America.

He was diagnosed with HIV in 1985, when he was two-years-old, and died five years later.

Mrs Smith said: "I just want closure. We go to the cemetery all the time and every time I got there I say to him 'we're getting there Colin'.

Colin's parents say they 'just want closure' after more than 30 years of battling for recognition. Credit: Family photo

"It would be lovely to go there and say 'we've done it babe'. That's what I want."

In September 2020, Penny Mordaunt MP, who was paymaster general at the time, became the first UK Government minister to say families of victims of the Infected Blood Scandal should receive compensation before the inquiry had concluded.

Penny Mordaunt MP was the first UK Government minister to say the families of infected blood victims should receive compensation. Credit: PA Images

The now-Commons Leader appeared before the inquiry and was quizzed about why how she had come to that decision.

She said: "I very much felt people had been waiting a long time for this inquiry, they'd been waiting a long time to get their issued addressed.

"There was a moral responsibility, [paying compensation] being our shift to do that."

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