A WOMAN has been fighting for justice for her late brother, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis as a child, for more than two decades.
Marc Payton, who previously lived in Bromsgrove, was one of dozens of haemophiliacs who died after being given treatment with contaminated blood products whilst attending Treloar's College in Hampshire in the 1970s.
His sister Janine Jones, who lives in Catshill, said her brother was diagnosed with HIV in 1985 when he was 23 and told he had hepatitis C in 1990. She said Mr Payton faced health issues and depression before he died in 2003 aged 41.
Mrs Jones, aged 59, wants his death to be recognised in the final report of the infected blood scandal – which is set to be published on May 20. She is also seeking damages from the college, which is a boarding school for physically disabled children. The school has a specialist haemophilia treatment centre.
Mrs Jones said: “I’ve been campaigning for 21 years now since my brother died.
“But obviously, there are people that I know who have been campaigning for longer.
“It’s about time we got into the headlines.
“My brother is only one of hundreds of people who died who haven’t had any recognition whatsoever”.
Mrs Jones said her brother was a “unique” person with a “wicked sense of humour.”
She said he has a passion for music and performed in punk bands.
She added: “There was never a dull moment with him around.
“He was in quite a few bands – that kept him alive, the onstage stuff.
“In the last few years, he had to slow down”.
“He loved Bromsgrove and that’s where he’s buried”.
A spokesperson for Treloar's School and College said: “This national scandal has devastated countless lives, including those of our former students and their families.
“Rightly, a public inquiry was set up to understand what happened and we have been a part of that process.
“We await the report’s publication and hope that it provides our former students who were infected, and their families, with the answers they deserve.
“We fully support their calls for the Government to accelerate compensation payments”.
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