When $chix0r said about the International Women's week, there was always going to be one person on my mind. That would be my wonderful mum, Ann Hume. We live in a small community and she had Hepatitis C through no fault of her own. Here, I interview her to tell her amazing story.

Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about your community?

I live in a small island with about 20,000 inhabitants so it is quite a small community. Shetland is a beautiful place, with lovely views in the summer months. The winters are long, cold and dark. I didn’t tell people about my hepatitis C status because it is a small community and people tend to gossip. With hepatitis C, people tend to think of drug abuse and tattoos and I didn’t get it this way.

So what happened? How did you get hepatitis C?

I got hepatitis C through contaminated blood products used by the NHS. I was given a blood product called Factor 8 before induction of labour with my second child for another problem with my blood in 1982. This consultant at this time would have known that the factor 8 was infected. This has made me very angry, as no thought was given to the dangers of it, on me and my baby. After looking at my medical records years later, I discovered that my factor 8 levels were in fact normal so I never needed it in the first place.

When did you first find out?

I found out I had hepatitis C in 1994, by accident. I had joined the haemophilia society and received leaflets for my blood disorder. There was another leaflet on hepatitis c. I read this and went to my doctor to get a blood test for hepatitis c and it came back positive. This was 12 years later!

What did the government do to compensate for what had happened?

The government didn’t compensate us, but I got £20,000 ex-gratia payment, meaning that it was paid out but they didn’t take the blame for it. But in other countries such as Ireland, people have got a lot more than this for it and the government has taken the blame. In Canada, some of the doctors are even being taken to court over it.

Do you think that being a woman with Hepatitis C is any different to a man with Hepatitis C?

I somehow thing that being a woman does help me with my hepatitis C. Women seem to cope better than men with it. I don’t know why.

In 2006, you told your story to a Scottish Newspaper. What was the reaction that you got from the community?

I got a quite good reaction from the community that I live in. No one thought the worse about it which is one thing that I feared about most. I didn’t want them to think badly of me and my family which is why I never said about it before. But people accepted it. I got comments in the town how shocking that this had happened to me.

Last month, there was an announcement of a public inquiry in the UK. How does this make you feel?

The inquiry into how this had happened is a good start and has been a long time coming. This is what myself and other people have been fighting for. For those who have hepatitis c and their families need closure and answers to what went wrong. I am delighted that we are going to finally get this closure and our answers.

What do you feel should be done to help victims who have been infected in this way?

Well, I would like to see more research into treatments for hepatitis c since the current treatment for it has horrific side effects with it. I would hope that we would get properly compensated for our suffering and that the government would take the blame for happened to us. The families who have lost a loved one with this should get compensated as well. With the ex-gratia payment, it was only people who have Hepatitis C who could get the payment, not those who had lost someone with it. Maybe even counselling for us could be helpful too. Finally, any person who actually made a profit with this should be punished. In my opinion, making money out of our pain and suffering is completely and morally wrong.

I want to thank my Mum for willing to do this interview. If you want more information about this. Here are a few links

Taintedblood.info
Haemophilia Society
British Liver Trust