Contaminated blood survey: Karisa Jones talks about diagnosis of "nightmare"

The Welsh victims of the tainted blood scandal began to testify as part of a public inquiry.

Karisa Jones' husband, Geraint, received infected blood during a transfusion in 1990 after losing his leg in a forklift accident.

He died 12 years after contracting hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver. The virus has been pbaded on to Mrs. Jones but she is now cleared of the disease.

Hearings will be held in Cardiff over the next four days.

At least 300 victims in Wales have been diagnosed with chronic or life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis or HIV after receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.

Geraint Jones received blood after losing a leg when he was struck by a forklift at work.

"We were just floored … it was unreal, it was only a nightmare," said his widow, after learning the diagnosis and prognosis of her husband twelve years later.

"He was a man who died every day," said Ms. Jones from Pontardawe.

She said that her husband blamed himself for what had happened to him, but did not know if she had finally recovered.

"He had a horrible death, I had never lived anything of my life – he suffered and he suffered so much."

She said that he was a "skeleton of the man that he was," was yellow and unable to eat properly.

Mr. Jones died at the age of 50 six months after diagnosis.

His widow said that she thought that information should have been available much earlier about what had happened and that there was no information about the treatment of the patient. infection after discovering it.

She started a six-month-old hepatitis C treatment program three months after Geraint's death, which she described as "appalling".

"It affected my life, physically and mentally."

She said that she "still lives in fear" of the return of the infection and is a "totally different person".

"Because the treatment was so hard and I had very little time with Geraint, I held as much as possible."

There was applause after she finished testifying.

Sir Brian Langstaff, former High Court Judge, and his investigation are intended to shed light on what is wrong.

He has already heard testimony in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Sir Brian told the audience in Cardiff: "We do not have precious time because people continue to suffer and die and we must give them the best answer we can give."

In the United Kingdom, about 2,400 deaths were caused by the blood scandal, which was caused by the grouping of infected and unfiltered blood donations and their use in blood products.

The investigation team is also reviewing thousands of documents.

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Health Minister Vaughan Gething said he wanted to make sure the victims of Wales are able to cope with the challenges they face.

He added that discussions were continuing between the British nations on setting up a financial support system similar to that of the UK aimed at bringing "clarity and parity".

"I want the problem to be solved as soon as possible, the sooner the better," he said.