A tireless campaigner

I first met Steve Dymond in 2015 and was privileged to be the first journalist he spoke to as he broke his years of silent suffering to join the fight for justice, writes the KM’S Chris Britcher.

We became friends and would stay in touch right up to his passing just before Christmas.

On my visits to their Broadstairs home, he would serve me superstrength coffee, a nod to his and Su’s life in France, and despite being a quiet, softly spoken man, spoke from his heart when it came to raising awareness of the blood contamination scandal.

It left a trail of devastation which continues to destroy families to this day. Children deprived parents. Wives and husbands ripped apart. Steve and Su denied the family they craved and the careers which would have allowed them the right to retire in financial security.

He was restless and relentless in his quest for the publicity he, quite rightly, saw as essential in applying pressure for a public inquiry and, finally, he wished, some justice.

That he did not live to see the outcome of that inquiry is a bitter blow.

In the last article he penned as part of his campaign, published in the KM just a few weeks before his passing, he wrote of the inquiry: “It has been announced the hearings will resume on April 30, 2019.

“I hope to have recovered enough health and strength to participate fully.

“We have to believe that I will still be amongst the survivors.”

He, along with all the other victims, deserved to be.