Hep C sufferer praises unit

IF there was bad blood between Valerie Murphy and the State that infected her with Hepatitis C, she has put it behind her.

The 49-year-old, from Cloghroe, Co Cork, took time yesterday to praise the Government’s latest efforts to help her and her fellow-sufferers.

A new out-patients unit, for the treatment of Hepatitis C victims, will, she said, be a huge bonus to the 600 women in the region infected by contaminated blood products supplied within the State.

Officially opened yesterday at Cork University Hospital by Health Minister Micheál Martin, the unit is one of eight planned nationally to treat the State’s 3,000 Hep C sufferers.

Valerie said the unit will for the first time give women freedom to meet fellow Hep C patients.

“It is still the case that a lot of women have not told their kids that they have Hep C, not because of a stigma, but for fear they might be treated as invalids or be a burden.

"Many Hep C women have confidentiality issues and wouldn’t want to discuss how they’re feeling with a fellow patient while standing in the hospital corridor. The new unit has a private waiting area and we’ll be able to talk there,” she said.

Valerie, infected by Anti D following the birth of her son in 1977, only became aware of her personal tragedy when she received a letter from the blood bank in February 1994 to say she needed to be tested for Hepatitis C.

“I had been a donor and they were worried that I had picked up something in my last donation. I was terrified when I got the letter, I hadn’t even heard of Hep C.”

She tested positive and was thankful when the rest of her family tested negative. She had a couple of tough years; there was a period when she was visiting the hospital three times a week, getting blood removed, cleansed and replaced.

Nowadays the visits are far less frequent and she dwells on the positive.

“There are things I miss. I used to do ballroom dancing with my husband, but I suffer a lot from fatigue so that’s not possible anymore. Neither can I go swimming or go to the gym, but it’s part of my life now and I’ve come to live with it ,” she said.

Valerie’s family will never be accepted as donors because of her infection. She is not bitter about her suffering, she has received some compensation, but she would like someone to be held responsible for an illness that limits her life.

“I would like to see the blood bank members who went ahead and made up Anti D using contaminated blood products made answerable. Then I would have some peace of mind.”