English: I would like to start today by thanking the Members in whose name this motion appears on today's agenda. This is a very important subject, where we have the opportunity to call for redress for those lives touched by the contaminated blood tragedy. For my contribution today, I would like to focus on the stories of two of my constituents who were affected in this way. The first story is from a constituent who, understandably, wishes to remain nameless. He says: 'I was 17 years old and ready to start my life when I was told by my Haemophilia Doctor that I had HIV, I was told not to tell anyone, not even my mother. They told me I would live about 18 months. I had seen AIDS victims on the TV and so I thought I would die in the same way. This was a death sentence, I signed myself out of hospital and started taking sleeping tablets, as when I was asleep I wasn't thinking about the reality of what was happening. During the next few years I took more and more sleeping pills, morphine and pethidine, in fact anything to numb the effect and stop the mental torture. I would take 5 or 6 at a time, up to 90 a week. I had a nervous breakdown and was admitted to Whitchurch Psychiatric hospital and tried to kick the habit. For years I spent spells in and out of hospital where I witnessed other Haemophiliacs I had known dying from AIDS. One such victim Mathew was a young man who was a couple of years younger than me and looked up to me, he was going to die imminently and I was asked to stay in hospital a few days longer by the Haemophilia doctors until he died. I had become an addict to sleeping tablets and pain killers and my doctor stopped them all one day, I was climbing the walls as I was given no help, I broke into the local pharmacy to try and get tablets to numb the pain. I attempted suicide many times, my mother witnessed all of this. 'In 1994 I was told that I was also infected with Hepatitis C, I underwent many courses of treatment with horrendous side effects and eventually was clear of the virus 3 years ago. I was told that I had cirrhosis due to Hepatitis C but I have been refused stage 2 ongoing payments from the Skipton Fund. All my life I haven't been able to get life assurance or mortgage protection due to HIV and Hepatitis C. I live day to day, I met my wife over 20 years ago, we would like to have some recognition of what has happened to me and how my life has been ruined. We would like financial support to offer us some degree of security. Instead we have to make applications for means tested support which is usually turned down.' The second story is from my constituent Jeff Meaden, who I've been in correspondence with for some months. Jeff writes movingly about his much-loved wife Pat. Patricia Meaden died of liver cancer and liver failure in January 2014. Pat had contracted hepatitis C through treatment she had received for a blood clotting disorder. She was ill for most of 2013 but wasn't referred for a liver transplant and developed liver cancer. Her widower Jeff says: 'We lived in the same street as children and played together as children. We first went out together when we were 14, her death was so unnecessary, I am broken hearted. My wife would have been alive it if hadn't been for Hepatitis C, it has ruined our lives and nobody is taking any responsibility for it.' The stories of my unnamed constituent and Pat Meaden highlight some of the ways in which lives have been changed as a result of the contaminated blood scandal: the psychological impact; addiction to medication; suicide attempts; refusal of life assurance or mortgage protection; financial insecurity; and death. But their stories also highlight the way the contaminated blood scandal has affected those around them and I am glad that this aspect has also been touched upon in the motion today. I have no hesitation in supporting this motion today and its call for justice. Thank you.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddechrau heddiw drwy ddiolch i'r Aelodau y mae'r cynnig hwn yn ymddangos yn eu henwau ar yr agenda heddiw. Mae hwn yn bwnc pwysig iawn, lle y mae gennym gyfle i alw am iawndal i'r rhai y mae eu bywydau wedi'u cyffwrdd gan y drychineb gwaed halogedig. Ar gyfer fy nghyfraniad heddiw, hoffwn ganolbwyntio ar hanes dau o fy etholwyr yr effeithiwyd arnynt yn y ffordd hon. Daw'r stori gyntaf gan etholwr sydd, yn ddealladwy, yn dymuno aros yn ddienw. Mae'n dweud hyn: Roeddwn yn 17 oed ac yn barod i ddechrau ar fy mywyd pan ddywedodd fy meddyg Hemoffilia wrthyf fod gennyf HIV, a dywedwyd wrthyf am beidio â dweud wrth neb, yn cynnwys fy mam hyd yn oed. Dywedwyd wrthyf y buaswn yn byw am oddeutu 18 mis. Roeddwn wedi gweld dioddefwyr AIDS ar y teledu ac felly roeddwn yn meddwl y buaswn yn marw yn yr un ffordd. Roedd hon yn ddedfryd o farwolaeth, rhyddheais fy hun o'r ysbyty a dechrau cymryd tabledi cysgu, gan nad oeddwn yn meddwl am realiti'r hyn oedd yn digwydd pan oeddwn yn cysgu. Yn ystod yr ychydig flynyddoedd nesaf cymerais fwy a mwy o dabledi cysgu, morffin a phethidin, unrhyw beth mewn gwirionedd i rewi'r effaith ac atal yr artaith feddyliol. Buaswn yn cymryd 5 neu 6 ar y tro, hyd at 90 yr wythnos. Cefais chwalfa nerfol a chefais fy nerbyn i ysbyty meddwl yr Eglwys Newydd a cheisiais roi'r gorau i'r arfer. Am flynyddoedd treuliais gyfnodau i mewn ac allan o'r ysbyty lle y gwelais bobl hemoffilig eraill yr oeddwn yn eu hadnabod yn marw o AIDS. Un dioddefwr o'r fath oedd Mathew, dyn ifanc a oedd ychydig o flynyddoedd yn iau na mi ac roedd ganddo dipyn o feddwl ohonof. Roedd ar fin marw, a gofynnodd y meddygon hemoffilia i mi aros yn yr ysbyty am ychydig ddyddiau'n hwy tan y byddai farw. Roeddwn wedi mynd yn gaeth i dabledi cysgu a thabledi lladd poen a stopiodd fy meddyg y cyfan un diwrnod. Roeddwn yn dringo'r waliau gan na chefais unrhyw help, a thorrais i mewn i'r fferyllfa leol i geisio cael tabledi i rewi'r boen. Ceisiais ladd fy hun sawl gwaith, ac roedd fy mam yn dyst i hyn i gyd. Yn 1994 dywedwyd wrthyf fy mod wedi fy heintio â hepatitis C hefyd. Cefais sawl triniaeth gyda sgîl-effeithiau ofnadwy ac yn y pen draw cefais wared ar y firws 3 blynedd yn ôl. Dywedwyd wrthyf fy mod wedi cael sirosis oherwydd hepatitis C ond gwrthodwyd taliadau parhaus cam 2 o Gronfa Skipton i mi. Ar hyd fy oes nid wyf wedi gallu cael yswiriant bywyd neu ddiogelu morgais oherwydd HIV a hepatitis C. Rwy'n byw o ddydd i ddydd. Cyfarfûm â fy ngwraig dros 20 mlynedd yn ôl, a buasem yn hoffi cael rhywfaint o gydnabyddiaeth o'r hyn sydd wedi digwydd i mi a sut y mae fy mywyd wedi cael ei ddifetha. Hoffem gymorth ariannol i gynnig rhywfaint o sicrwydd i ni. Yn lle hynny mae'n rhaid i ni wneud ceisiadau am gymorth sy'n dibynnu ar brawf modd, ac fel arfer, mae'r ceisiadau'n cael eu gwrthod. Daw'r ail stori gan fy etholwr, Jeff Meaden, sydd wedi bod yn gohebu â mi ers rhai misoedd. Mae Jeff yn ysgrifennu'n deimladwy am ei wraig annwyl, Pat. Bu farw Patricia Meaden o ganser yr afu a methiant yr afu ym mis Ionawr 2014. Heintiwyd Pat â hepatitis C drwy driniaeth a gafodd at anhwylder ceulo gwaed. Roedd yn sâl am y rhan fwyaf o 2013, ond ni chafodd ei hatgyfeirio i gael trawsblaniad afu a datblygodd ganser yr iau. Dywed ei gŵr gweddw, Jeff: Roeddem yn byw ar yr un stryd yn blant a byddem yn chwarae gyda'n gilydd yn blant. Dechreuasom ganlyn pan oeddem yn 14. Roedd ei marwolaeth mor ddiangen, rwy'n torri fy nghalon. Byddai fy ngwraig wedi bod yn fyw oni bai am hepatitis C. Mae wedi difetha ein bywydau ac nid oes neb yn cymryd unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am hynny. Mae straeon fy etholwr dienw a Pat Meaden yn tynnu sylw at rai o'r ffyrdd y mae bywydau wedi cael eu newid o ganlyniad i'r sgandal gwaed halogedig: yr effaith seicolegol; caethiwed i feddyginiaeth; ceisio cyflawni hunanladdiad; gwrthod yswiriant bywyd neu ddiogelu morgais; ansicrwydd ariannol; a marwolaeth. Ond mae eu straeon hefyd yn tynnu sylw at y ffordd y mae'r sgandal gwaed halogedig wedi effeithio ar y rhai o'u cwmpas ac rwy'n falch fod yr agwedd hon hefyd wedi cael sylw yn y cynnig heddiw. Ni phetrusaf ddim rhag cefnogi'r cynnig hwn heddiw a'i alwad am gyfiawnder. Diolch.