Christina

In 1988, Christina contracted hepatitis C via blood transfusion during spinal surgery. Here, she shares her story.
This story includes experiences of baby loss.

I contracted hepatitis C in 1988 from a blood transfusion, following spine surgery. I was 19 years old. 

Sheer luck saved me from cirrhosis. In 1997 while I was living in Hong Kong, my mum said a letter from the National Blood Service had been re-directed from our old house to me. The letter informed me I had likely been infected with hepatitis C and to get tested. Testing confirmed I had hepatitis C and a liver biopsy revealed liver damage.

Treatment for hepatitis C looked very different in the 1990s and 2000s than it does today. There was no easy cure then. Several times I was recommended by doctors to get a treatment for hepatitis C which involved being very ill for the entire nine months of treatment. This early treatment only had a 20 per cent success rate. I declined.

The infected blood I received also contained Anti-Kell antibodies. This meant that I experienced severe difficulties with pregnancy and childbirth. In my second pregnancy I developed polyhydramnios (an increase in amniotic fluid) at the end of the first trimester. A planned caesarean turned into an emergency caesarean as my daughter’s heart rate dropped. Upon her arrival to the world, she was rushed away by ambulance to the neonatal intensive care unit in Brighton where she was given blood transfusions. For two weeks we didn’t know if she would live or die. Doctors stated if she had been delivered any later, she would have been stillborn. It was a miracle she survived. She arrived home within two months.

During my third pregnancy I suffered from polyhydramnios again. At 30 weeks into my pregnancy, I went for a scan, which resulted in being taken to a room and told there were complications. I was told to go straight to the labour ward as they needed to perform blood transfusions on the baby in utero. Upon my arrival into the labour ward, they started to do foetal heart tracing, when suddenly I was rushed to have an emergency caesarean. Devastatingly, my son was born with brain damage. He was held tightly while the life support machine was turned off.

The doctors told me my antibodies had attacked my baby’s red blood cells, starving him of oxygen, causing foetal anaemia. Polyhydramnios can be present in conditions that cause foetal anaemia.

During 2017 and 2018 I was more tired than usual. A different type of tiredness would overtake me leaving me with a sudden, overwhelming desire to sleep. Along with chronic fatigue I suffered many other hepatitis C related symptoms. I had a fibroscan which confirmed liver scarring.

In April 2018 I was prescribed Epclusa treatment, which has a 97% success rate. Although I am now cured of hepatitis C, I feel very different to how I felt before. I used to be able to work full time and study, but I am unable to do this now. I struggle to fight the fatigue, but I will never give up trying.

Following the Infected Blood Inquiry has been emotional. There is so much evidence which proves that the Government could have taken action to stop the use of infected blood donations sooner than they did. These decisions affected so many lives beyond my own and my family. I hope that we all see justice served. It has taken too long already.

If you have been affected by baby loss, you can find support from Sands, the charity which provides support to families dealing with pregnancy loss or the death of a baby, and advice for their loved ones. Find out more at sands.org.uk