'When I lost him, I lost everything'

Ted Burkert was infected with HIV and hepatitis C

The family of a man who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C by blood products used to treat haemophilia have said they “lost everything” when he died.

Ted Burkert, 54, a single father of five from Bradford, died in 1992 shortly after suffering a brain bleed.

An estimated 30,000 people were infected by contaminated blood or blood products in the 1970s and 80s.

A public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS will publish its final report on 20 May.

Mr Burkert never told his family he had been infected with HIV to protect them.

His children only discovered his status as he was dying in hospital.

Years later they found medical records stating he also had Aids and hepatitis C at the time of his death.

His daughter Eileen Burkert, 54, from Halifax, said he was a “strong man” and that he was “small but mighty”.

“That’s how I looked at my dad. So when I lost him, I lost everything,” she added.

Mr Burkert was born with the clotting disorder haemophilia A and was given a new treatment called Factor 8, made from pooled blood plasma.

In the 1970s, the UK was struggling to meet demand for the new treatment, so stocks were imported from the US where high-risk groups, like prisoners, were among the donors.

Mr Burkert with his daughter Eileen

The Infected Blood Inquiry estimates that 1,250 people with bleeding disorders in the UK developed both HIV and hepatitis C as a result, including 380 children.

Mr Burkert’s daughter Carol Prior, 59, from Southowram, said he was “everything” to our family.

“He was our mum, our dad, he brought us all up on his own and we kind of lost two parents that day in our eyes.

“I can’t put a picture up in my house of my dad because if I ever see one it upsets me."

• What is the infected blood scandal and will victims get compensation?

Mr Burkert’s son Stephen Burkert, 59, from Queensbury, said: “I feel a bit angry. He was only 54. He missed out on being a granddad.

“It’s very important to get this final report and hopefully to get justice, his name recognised, and just to let it rest."

Stephen Burkert said he wanted "justice" for his father

Five other members of Mr Burkert’s wider family, who also have haemophilia, were infected with HIV and hepatitis C by contaminated blood products.

Eileen Burkert said: “I’m hoping that this final report will give us all the answers we need and the justice, for somebody to hold their hands up and say what they did was wrong. I can rest then - and my dad can.”

A government spokesperson said: "This was an appalling tragedy that never should have happened.

"We are clear that justice needs to be done and swiftly, which is why we have acted in amending the Victims and Prisoners Bill.

“This includes establishing a new body to deliver an Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, confirming the government will make the required regulations for it within three months of Royal Assent, and that it will have all the funding needed to deliver compensation once they have identified the victims and assessed claims.

“In addition, we have included a statutory duty to provide additional interim payments to the estates of deceased infected people.

“We will continue to listen carefully to the community as we address this dreadful scandal."

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