Two Highland men have revealed the extent of the damage caused to their physical and mental health after being infected with contaminated blood.
Andy Gunn, a haemophiliac who was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and HIV around 25 years ago, said the blunder had “destroyed” his life and left him with multiple health problems including cancer.
And Bruce Norval said it was the “worst day of his life” when he was diagnosed with Hep C in 1990 because he feared he had infected his wife and unborn daughter.
Mr Gunn 40, who lives in the Scorguie area of Inverness, said: “I was told I had Hep C and HIV when I was about 14 but they (doctors) had already known for about seven years.
“It has destroyed my life – my mental health has suffered as well and I have spent a lot of time in hospital.
“I recently just had, for the second time, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer which was really harsh and I had to go through chemotherapy.”
Mr Gunn said he was currently in remission but did not know how long it would last.
He added that his poor health made it difficult for him to make a living as a musician.
Mr Gunn said: “I have struggled mentally and physically to have the energy to compose and perform.
“I have not been able to have a family and have been unable to get mortgages and life insurances.”
Mr Norval, 50, who lives in the Black Isle, was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1990 because he was part of a trial blood test group.
The married father of two suffers from a defective nervous system condition called peripheral neuropathy.
Mr Norval said: “My wife was five months pregnant at the time of my diagnosis and I thought I had killed her and the bairn – it was the worst day of my life.
“I have advanced liver disease and I am checked for cancer every six months.
“The neuropathy and joint inflammation and left me virtually unable to move on many days and I need to sleep more time than I am awake.”
Mr Norval said he took huge amounts of pain killers which had taken a toll on his body and his teeth were rotting away.
“My overall state of my health physically is very poor and I am unlikely at the age of 50 to see my 60th birthday,” he added.