A HAEMOPHILIAC from Lochore has told the Times that the medicine he thought was a “Godsend” ended up killing his three brothers.

Frank McGuire is the youngest of four boys brought up in the Benarty area who received Factor VIII which infected them all with hepatitis.

The blood-plasma was hailed as a cure for the bleeding disorder, haemophilia, but the ‘cure’ led to thousands of recipients being exposed to hepatitis, leading to what is now known as the Contaminated Blood Scandal.

Frank’s brothers, Owen, James and Edward all died from the illness, with an inhibitor in Frank’s system resulting in the hepatitis he contacted to lie dormant.

Frank and his brothers spent the majority of their lives in hospitals, unable to play with their friends, as they were treated for bleeding and protected from sustaining cuts outside.

“We didn’t have much of a life,” Frank told the Times. “My mum and dad were afraid to let us out. It was hellish for them.

“We went through our lives in and out of hospitals. When we had bleeding, we were taken in for months and sometimes years at a time.

“The first time I received Factor VIII because of a bad bleed was at the Royal Infirmary. I was out in four days. We thought it was a Godsend at the time.

“We thought it was God’s gift to us all. It didn’t save us, it killed us.

“I have something in my system which means I never got it because me and Edward shared when we ran out. I don’t think I’m the lucky one, because I’ve lost my three brothers.”

Owen died one day before his 22nd birthday in 1962, while Edward and James died at the age of 47 and 50, respectively. “We went through life without having anything to do, really,” Frank said. “We didn’t have hobbies. We couldn’t play football or climb trees. We couldn’t find jobs.”

Nearly 4,000 people in the UK were infected with either hepatitis C or hepatitis C and HIV after receiving Factor VIII, with with at least 2,400 dying as a consequence amid accusations of an official cover-up.

The ‘factor’ commercial medicine that Frank, his brothers and other haemophiliacs were given was made by pooling plasma from up to 40,000 donors, and concentrating it.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced in July last year that a public Infected Blood Inquiry would take place, which could last more than two years.

Open hearings were conducted at the end of September as testimonies were given by those affected by the treatment which was introduced in the UK during the 1970s.