Infected blood caused my mum’ s liver cancer
The Olympic swimmer reveals for the first time how her mother was caught up in the contaminated blood scandal
BEHIND Sharron Davies’s ready smile there is a sadness.The former Olympic swimmer is still grieving for her mother Sheila, who she lost to liver cancer three years ago.
“Mum was 80 when she died and she’d had a long and happy life,” says Sharron, 57, who won two gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the 1980 Olympics. “But she could have lived longer – and her health should definitely have been better.”
In her late 40s, Sheila, a civil servant, contracted hepatitis C during an operation for gallstones. The condition damaged her liver to such a degree that she developed liver cancer as a direct result.
Sadly, she was one of around 7,500 people to contract a life-threatening illness through contaminated blood or blood products used by the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s. So far, around 3,000 of those affected have died.
It is estimated that 3,891 British patients were infected with hepatitis C in this way. Others contracted hepatitis B and HIV from the blood, and in the case of many haemophiliacs, they were often exposed to more than one of these conditions.
The unscreened blood used by the NHS at this time came from sources such as the US prison population. A government investigation, the Infected Blood Inquiry, is now trying to determine the scale of the damage with the help of testimonials from affected families.
“It’s shocking that this could have happened and I can understand why so many families who lost loved ones are so distraught,” says the mother of three.
But Sharron doesn’t feel bitter – just sad. “Mum was a rational and upbeat person, and she just got on with things. She was pretty matter of fact about being ill and managed her condition well.”
LIKE many people with hepatitis C, Sheila did not know she had the condition for six or seven years after she was infected. “I remember her having all sorts of strange aches and pains and generally just not feeling herself,” says Sharron.
“Mum had always been such an active, outdoorsy person but she suddenly started to feel very tired and had a lot of joint pain. She went backwards and forwards to the doctor but it took a while to get an answer.”
A blood test eventually revealed that Sheila had caught viral hepatitis, and she was told by a doctor that she’d undoubtedly contracted the infection during the surgery she’d had for gallstones.
Viral hepatitis affects the liver by causing the immune system to start attacking liver cells. This results in slow but progressive scarring that can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.
The most common strains in this country are hepatitis C and B, which are blood-borne infections that can also be contracted by sharing needles, syringes and even nail scissors or razors. Hepatitis B can be passed on through sex too.
In the early stages, some people with viral hepatitis don’t have any obvious health problems; for others, the side-effects can be vague, such as tiredness, nausea, brain fog, loss of appetite, mild fever and jaundice.
“Many people who are undiagnosed with viral hepatitis are not aware they may be at risk,” warns Vanessa Hebditch, director of policy at the British Liver Trust. “We would urge anyone who has ever taken drugs to get tested.
“People should also get tested if they have had unprotected sex with someone who may have been infected; had a tattoo or received healthcare in a country with a high prevalence of the virus.”
Ironically, says Sharron, her mother led a quiet, wholesome life. “She never drank or smoked, was slim, exercised regularly and barely travelled as she was at her happiest at home in Plymouth. It does seem very unfair that she became ill through no fault of her own.”
Sheila saw a specialist regularly and was given medication to slow down the virus but she didn’t let illness hold her back. “Sure, there were days when she felt pretty unwell and it did rather stop her going on holiday, but she never made a fuss, she just got on with her life. That was mum to a tee.
“When I was growing up, there wasn’t a lot of money, but she and my dad [who later became Sharron’s coach] always found a way to support my swimming career and made sure that my two brothers were able to follow their sporting interests too.”
Indeed, many of Sheila’s friends didn’t even know she had a health condition and she chose to carry on working until she was 70 because she loved her job so much.
Rather shockingly, research carried out by Public Health England last year revealed that around two-thirds of the 143,000 people in the UK believed to have hepatitis C have not been diagnosed and do not realise that they are at risk of serious liver damage – many of them could have been infected through contaminated blood.
“It’s important to remember that the Infected Blood Inquiry is not just a historical exercise,” stresses Rachel Halford, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, a charity for people affected by the condition. “People are continuing to live with and die because of the consequences of infected blood.
“If you think you had a blood transfusion or received blood products before 1992, please do ask your GP for a test.”
ALTHOUGH there is no vaccination for hepatitis C (there is for the B-strain) the condition can be diagnosed with a blood test.
In recent years, powerful antiviral medications that have very few side effects have become available on the NHS. Even so, the Hepatitis C Trust recently revealed that 20-30 per cent of people with chronic hepatitis C will develop cirrhosis within 20 years.
Around 600 people a year develop liver cancer as a result of hepatitis C, as Sheila did.
“We always knew mum was at risk. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she was characteristically calm,” says Sharron, who cried when Sheila decided not to have further treatment.
“She’d been ill for three years and she just wanted to enjoy the time she had left. Three months after making that decision, mum died peacefully with her family around her.
“I still miss her so much as she was always in my corner. I try to be philosophical – mum got to 80 and in many ways she was one of the lucky ones, as she got a diagnosis and had treatment to stall any damage to her body.
“But I can’t help thinking that she could still be here – and I don’t think that thought will go away.”
● For information on hepatitis C, contact the Hepatitis C Trust (020 7089 6221, hepctrust.org.uk). Find out more about the Infected Blood Inquiry by visiting infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk