Day of high emotion and hope for twins as Infected Blood Inquiry finally starts

TWIN brothers from Northern Ireland have said they were moved to tears as a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal began yesterday.

Glengormley-born Nigel and Simon Hamilton, aged 58, both contracted Hepatitis C after receiving contaminated blood transfusions.

The family also lost two cousins who were infected through transfusions.

The brothers said they were overwhelmed the “catastrophe” was finally facing the full rigours of a public investigation.

“Getting to this point has been traumatic and lengthy,” said Simon, who chairs the Haemophilia NI group.

“This is the final and real opportunity to get to the bottom of this, but I’m encouraged we have a judge who is very clearly committed to uncovering the truth.”

More than 2,400 people died in the UK after receiving blood contaminated with Hepatitis and HIV in the 1970s and 1980s.

The public probe will consider the treatment of thousands of people given infected blood products and the impact this has had.

“There’s no doubt this is the worst tragedy to ever hit the NHS,” said Simon.

He was originally infected with Hepatitis C after a car accident. Today he lives with cirrhosis of the liver and must be tested every six months to determine if he has cancer.

Nigel was infected with Hepatitis C when he had an eye operation at 14, but didn’t know the truth about his illness until the 1990s. Last Christmas he was diagnosed with liver cancer, but is recovering well after a transplant in February.

From left: Simon Hamilton, son Ethan and brother Nigel; the brothers as rowing champions in 1980s, and the opening day of the Infected Blood Inquiry

that’s the only place I get satisfactory answers. This isn’t about giving blame to the medical profession, the people who have looked after us have always done so with integrity.

“It’s for the inquiry to find out who made the decisions about whether we would live or die. They made us play a game of Russian roulette, and I could easily have got HIV as well as hepatitis.”

Nigel was among those who travelled to London yesterday.

“When we went into the commemoration I actually broke down,” he said.

“They were playing music by Emeli Sande with photos of everyone who had died as a result of contamination.

“I respected the fact I was one of the lucky ones. We’ve lost two cousins and it just really struck home to our family.

“The good thing is the inquiry panel have given me a fairly high degree of confidence they’re taking things seriously.”