Two mothers reveal how infected blood scandal devastated their lives

Two mothers opened up about their experiences with the scandal of infected blood.

Michelle Tolley, Nicola Leahy, and Michelle Tolley suffered from crippling fatigue for many decades. They were unaware they had contracted hepatitis C from blood transfusions.

Theirs is a group of up to 30,000. They were exposed via blood products and contaminated blood in the NHS’s treatment catastrophe. They want to encourage other victims to come forward – fearing they may be too ashamed to speak out or have not been diagnosed.

They call this as the Infected blood inquiry, which begins this week to investigate how many individuals who had required blood from miscarriage, childbirth, or an accident were turned away by NHS transfusion services.

Nicola Leahy, 69, from Lancashire, spent much of her career as an NHS patient care chief before she was forced into early retirement through illnes

Mrs Leahy is likely to have been infected via blood transfusions during the troubled birth of her third child in 1980 at Billinge Hospital in Wigan

Mrs Leahy (69), a Lancashire native, worked for a lot of her life as a NHS patient care chief, before being forced to retire early due to illness. ‘I’m an NHS person, I don’t have a suspicious mind. But I have to ask, did they ignore, or not recognise, what had happened to me?’ she said.

It is possible that the grandmother of five was infected with blood transfusions in her untimely 1980 delivery of her third child at Billinge Hospital, Wigan.

‘I picked up every infection going from flu to pneumonia and sarcoidosis,’ she said.

‘I came in with different illnesses. Because I was suffering from sore throats, I continued to visit the doctor. They classified me as a hypochondriac. I was dismissed every day.

‘I felt like I was failing as a mother and as a wife as I did not have the energy to do activities with my children or enjoy socialising.’

Infected Blood Inquiry begins this week to investigate how thousands of people who had blood requirements after miscarriage, childbirth, or an accident were treated by NHS transfusions services. [File photo]

While Mrs Leahy now has hepatitis C under control, there are still side-effects that can be debilitating and conditions like osteoporosis. She said she faced questions from doctors that made her feel she was ‘an alcoholic prostitute’.

Mrs Tolley, 56, had also repeatedly visited her GP with severe fatigue and was also dismissed – even when she specifically asked to be tested for hepatitis C.

A mother in Norwich claims she contracted the disease after receiving a blood transfusion in 1987 after her birth. This was followed in 1991 by another after she gave birth to her second child at Barking Maternity Hospital, Essex. After being infected for 28 years, tests showed that she has hepatitis C.

Mrs Tolley, who runs an online support group, Contaminated Whole Blood UK, said: ‘After my diagnosis, I would see a coffin that had my name on it. I felt very let down by the system, and at times I felt I was on a downward spiral.’

She added: ‘I was given a death sentence without committing any crime.’