My children were injected with HIV

Jennifer Merry’s sons – Matthew and Simon – were born with haemophilia, a genetic condition that means a person’s blood doesn’t clot properly. Matthew and Simon had to get a treatment to survive: for years, they were injected with a blood-clotting protein taken from donated and purchased blood. In 1985 Jennifer received shocking news: the blood her children were injected with was contaminated with HIV. Matthew, Simon and thousands of others in the UK became the victims of what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of Britain’s National Health Service. (Image: Matthew and Simon Merry. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Merry.)