20 May 2024 , 05:53
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A man has spoken of his five-year battle for justice after being infected with contaminated blood.
Robert Viana-Ross was given an infusion of infected blood product Factor VIII when he was just 10 years old. The treatment is used to control bleeding in patients with haemophilia.
But as a result of the infected transfusion, his life was ruined after he developed hepatitis C. Today, Sir Brian Langstaff's Infected Blood Inquiry report is set to be released, with Robert and other victims hoping they'll get the answers they've been desperately searching for. They fear it will be too late for the thousands who have already died waiting for justice and compensation.
Robert, 56, said: “It is time for action, no more talking, They have to pay for what they have done. Some of us have had 50 years of living with it every single day and we will die from it. My mum and dad trusted doctors when they gave me Factor VIII. I am not looking to find an individual and hang them. It is not about revenge.
Robert with his husband Cesar (Peter Jolly <peterjolly9@gmail.com>)“But people knew there was a risk and they were still prepared to take a chance knowing they could infect you. I just want to know whatever time I have got left will be comfortable. They need to get the compensation right and the payments need to come quickly because people are dying weekly,” he told the Daily Record.
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It is the second time Scots victims have pinned their hopes on an inquiry. The last time, in 2015, The Penrose Inquiry into the Scottish scandal was branded a “whitewash” with copies of the document burned in the streets when retired judge Lord Penrose found no-one culpable.
Robert added: “I wouldn’t shame myself to have a copy in the house.” But the UK inquiry under Sir Brian Langstaff brings with it a confidence that answers will finally be given. Robert said: “We believe he has done his job. There is a real sense he will do what’s right.”
Almost five decades after he received Factor VIII, Robert does not know how many years of his life he will lose because he was infected with hepatitis C as a youngster.
But he is pinning his hopes on the inquiry to secure enough compensation to allow him to live the remainder of his life comfortably as he can no longer work. He hopes lessons will be learned from the country’s biggest NHS scandal but he fears other similar scandals will occur in the future.
He said: “There are lessons to be learned and it should never happen again but every time a new scandal comes out we say we will learn from it. But there will always be a bit of lip service from the powers that be.”
Robert received three infusions of Factor VIII – at least one of which was infected with hep C – the virus that infects the liver and, if left untreated, can cause life-threatening damage.
In addition to the one he received at 10, he was infused at 18 when he was having a wisdom tooth removed and again at 23 when he had a laceration to a tendon on his left leg. In 1999, Robert’s whole world came crashing down when he received the news that he had hep C.
He said: “I felt my life was coming to an end at great speed. I didn’t realise at that point about Factor VIII. I didn’t know where I had got this hep C. I was scared to tell people I had it because I thought they would think I was a heavy-duty drug user because they were the main category of hep C patients.
“I always hug my friends but after the hep C diagnosis I wouldn’t let people touch me or hug me. I just didn’t know what damage I could be doing to the people around me. At that point, I shut down and became 100 per cent focused on my job because I didn’t want to let anyone else near me.”
Robert had a successful career working with ethnic minority groups and had hopes of entering politics. But those ambitions came to a grinding halt as his condition worsened.
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He said: “They started testing me regularly for liver cancer, liver failure. One of the alarm bells is fatigue and I had noticed a lot of fatigue.”
Doctors realised his liver was failing and said he needed lifesaving treatment. He does not know what the long-term damage will be or how much it will shorten his life.
He said: “All I wanted to do was die.” Even now low mood grips him and he struggles to leave his bed for days at a time and it is impossible for him to work.
Last night Robert paid tribute to Scots campaigner Bruce Norval, a fellow hep C patient, whose dogged determination succeeded in securing the inquiry.
He said: “If it hadn’t been for him we wouldn’t be where we are today. There is not an award fitting enough we can give to this man.”
For mental support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit to find your nearest branch.