Hertfordshire victim of the infected blood scandal is hoping for 'accountability'
She was infected with Hepatitis C when she was 9 years old
A woman from St Albans, one of countless victims of the infected blood scandal, is hoping accountability will be taken for the thousands of lives affected by life-threatening blood infections between the 1970s and the early 1990s.
Patients who received infected blood are hoping justice will be brought through a report into the scandal in the Infected Blood Inquiry, to be published in three weeks.
Nicola Jones, from St Albans, is one of them.
She was diagnosed as young child with mild haemophilia, a condition where the blood struggles to clot, leading to higher risk of blood loss and internal bleeding through minor injuries.
She was only nine years old when she was given medical treatment, which she later found out had contaminated her blood with Hepatitis C.
Her health started to get affected shortly after infection, with a range of symptoms which later developed into health complications.
Ms Jones said: "It's about accountability, many of us were led to believe that we were going mad, that it was all in our head, and that there was nothing wrong with us."
Nicola and her mother only found out she had been infected following a news report on infected blood in 1995.
She realised she suffered from similar symptoms to other victims, which led her to request information from health professionals who confirmed she had tested positive to Hepatitis C during a routine hospital appointment in 1991.
She said: "I've been lucky, I have worked since I was 17, in health and social care funnily enough, which is why I'm passionate about openness and transparency."
Despite facing additional health complications such as fibromyalgia and lupus, Nicola carried on living her life and caring for her two children, while joining a campaign group to bring justice to those infected.
She said: "There's still no answers, and it's something that many campaigners have campaigned years and years for."
"It is also about compensation, I don't like using the words lessons learned but. In order for lessons to be learned, sometimes that can only be through a financial impact and then if that's the case, well then the government need to pay."
What does the Government say?
A government spokesperson said: "This was an appalling tragedy, and our thoughts remain with all those impacted."
“We have consistently accepted the moral case for compensation, and that’s why we have tabled an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill which enables the creation of a UK-wide Infected Blood Compensation Scheme and establishes a new arms-length body to deliver it."
“We will continue to listen carefully to those infected and affected about how we address this dreadful scandal.”
With many still waiting for compensation, countless stories of broken families and lives lost to one of the UK's biggest scandal are coming to light.
All are now hoping for justice in the report to be published on May 20.