A heartbroken family have shared the last conversation they had with their son who tragically died of Aids after he became a victim of the contaminated blood scandal.
Colin Smith, was riddled with HIV and hepatitis C in 1983 after he was given contaminated blood whilst being treated for haemophilia at 10 months old. He sadly died in 1990, aged just 7, after he received infected blood products that were imported from the US.
His family, from Newport, have opened up 34 years on from the tragedy and shared his final four words. Colin turned to his father in pain and said: “I can’t see daddy”. His loved ones bravely shared his last words ahead of a BBC investigation about the severity of the scandal.
The investigation found that the doctor who botched his blood, Prof Arthur Bloom, broke his own guidelines to infect him. It has been reported that just three months before Colin’s blood was contaminated, Prof Bloom’s department had written internal NHS guidelines aimed at child patients.
According to the rules, staff were steered away from using imported blood treatments on kids over the fears of infection. Colin’s father told the BBC: “This wasn’t an accident. It could have been avoided.” Around 30,000 people in the UK were administered blood transfusions infected with hepatitis C or HIV, between 1970 and the early 1990s. Out of this estimate, at least 2,400 people died, while over 4,000 survivors continue to battle with the effects of the scandal.
The Infected Blood Inquiry, which is due to publish its final report in May, made its final recommendations on compensation for victims and their loved ones in April 2023. Inquiry chair Sir Brian Langstaff said at the time that he “could not in conscience add to the decades-long delays” victims had already faced.
