Home   Kent   News   Article

Kent widow to give evidence at public inquiry into blood contamination scandal

In a cemetery on a picturesque hill in Devon lies the body of Steve Dymond.

Loved ones who tend his grave can look left to see Haytor - the granite tor which stands amid the wild beauty of Dartmoor National Park.

Cast your eyes around and the River Dart flows nearby. It's really quite idyllic.

Scroll down for video

Steve Dymond
Steve Dymond

And it is a fitting final resting place for a man who stood strong and tall despite a life where injustice was delivered in such a catastrophic way.

Haytor was one of his favourite spots. Born in nearby Exeter, he spent his final years in Broadstairs, waging war against those he believed not only would ultimately cut his life short but whom the blood of thousands of others stained their concealed hands.

Mr Dymond, a former teacher who helped pen the first GCSE for Russian, is, tragically, now among the many who have been a victim of one of the biggest medical scandals this country has ever known - the latest casualty of blood contamination.

He had been scheduled to give evidence at the public inquiry examining the circumstances around what has been described by former Labour MP Andy Burnham as "a criminal cover-up on an industrial scale".

It opened in September and victims started giving evidence last month.

Speaking to the KM just weeks before he passed away at Christmas, Mr Dymond, 62, a mild haemophiliac who had fought a string of health complications as a result of receiving infected blood to treat his condition, said: "The one consolation is I can hope to have recovered enough health and strength to participate fully when the inquiry resumes.

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

He would not. Instead his wife of 40 years, now a widow, will tell the inquiry the devastating impact it had on their lives.

Thousands of people have been affecting by the national blood transfusion scandal
Thousands of people have been affecting by the national blood transfusion scandal

The blood contamination scandal is stark in its calamity.

Haemophilia has, for centuries, been an affliction which has been difficult to treat.

The hereditary condition sees sufferers not have the ability for their blood to naturally clot sufficiently.

This means when they bleed it is difficult for them to stop - with the obvious potential dangers.

WATCH: Kent man searches for justice over contaminated blood scandal

Back in the 1970s drug companies developed a method of extracting the clotting agents from plasma in blood which could then be turned into a treatment to give haemophiliacs. Most commonly known as Factor VIII, this would provide temporary relief and allow the blood to clot.

In Mr Dymond's case, he received the treatment when having wisdom teeth removed as a youth.

Such was the demand, during the 70s and 80s, those companies sought vast quantities of blood to manufacture the treatment.

In doing so, they would source it from a variety of places. Notably, and particularly in the US, they paid prisoners and even drug addicts to donate.

Su Gorman lost her husband after he was given contaminated blood
Su Gorman lost her husband after he was given contaminated blood

The result was some of the blood extracted included HIV, which can lead to Aids, and hepatitis C, a disease which affects the liver and can be fatal.

All mixed together and ordered by the Department of Health to treat haemophiliacs, many would go on to find themselves infected, unknowingly, by the illnesses.

With the stigma around HIV and Aids in the 1980s, many were diagnosed with an effective death sentence or had inadvertently passed it on to loved ones.

Others would find their lives forever altered by the health conditions they were infected with.

It is estimated around 4,600 people, primarily haemophiliacs, were infected with hepatitis C and around 1,200 of which also received HIV in the blood.

Some 2,400 of the victims have since died.

Steve Dymond found himself with hepatitis C - an illness normally associated with drug addicts - and which would lead to liver cancer.

After struggling to recover, he died in the early hours of December 23 holding his wife's hand after his internal organs shut down.

"Steve was scheduled to do it... but my main emotion is I'm pleased I've got this chance to speak at the inquiry" - Su Gorman

Some campaigners say there is evidence to suggest the Department of Health knew of the dangers of Factor VIII long before it banned any non-heat treated blood products when Aids started to spread.

Others, that the delay in agreeing to a fresh inquiry was in order for as many of the victims to have died before any compensation agreement might be reached. The DoH denies all the claims.

The inquiry, set to deliver its findings within four years, is seen by campaigners - who have long demanded it - as the first step towards justice.

Su Gorman is Mr Dymond's widow.

"The inquiry has been done really well so far," she says of the process.

"Tainted Blood, the main campaign group, are very positive towards it. It's pulled a lot of people together.

"When Steve died, all my Tainted Blood friends circled around me.

"I've had so many people come up and hug me and tell me how much they thought of Steve - people I don't even know.

"I'm going to be talking about what we lived - how it affected us and what happened to us.

At least 2,400 people have died in the UK after being given the wrong blood
At least 2,400 people have died in the UK after being given the wrong blood

"It's going to be telling our personal story. That's going to be quite hard."

Mr Dymond was no stranger to tragedy.

His elder brother, Howard, had died at the age of 15 after a post-operative haemorrhage in 1969. He too had inherited haemophilia. Howard was cremated on Mr Dymond's 13th birthday, a wound which never fully healed.

Adds Mrs Gorman: "One of Steve's old school friends was saying how when Howard died Steve withdrew from all the sports he enjoyed at school.

"He said how he'd overcame haemophilia and got himself to university and then he was knocked down again by the contaminated blood.

"But my main emotion is I'm pleased I've got this chance to speak at the inquiry.

"Steve was scheduled to do it in fact. To speak for both of us."

Amid fears he had been treated with Factor VIII which included HIV, the couple were forced to shelve plans to have children after doctors informed him the illness could lie dormant for up to 10 years.

By his mid-40s, his health forced him out of work, while his wife gave up her job as a social worker to look after him.

They struggled to survive on the measly hand-outs victims received (around £14,000 a year).

Mr Dymond was a man dedicated to finding the truth behind what disrupted their life so dramatically. He prayed the inquiry would deliver that closure.

He - along with so many others who fell victim - did not live to see its conclusion.

Mrs Gorman intends to now move to Devon to be close to her husband's grave.

"Steve doesn't deserve to be remembered with tears," she reflects, "his life was just so wonderful."

  • Su Gorman is due to give evidence at the inquiry in London on Wednesday, June 5.

For more human interest stories click here

For more health stories click here

Read more: All the latest news from Thanet

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More