Choir's single for victims of NHS blood scandal

A UNIQUE choir made up of victims of the NHS infected blood scandal has released its first ever single.

- BY JAKE MEEUS-JONES

Michael Clegg - pictured with son Michael - died as a result of the NHS infected blood scandal

Silence to Song is a choir for people impacted by the devastating scandal between the 1970s and 1990s which saw over 30,000 people infected with hepatitis C and HIV due to contaminated blood product such as factor VIII and whole blood.

Widely regarded as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, it is thought that around 2,900 died because of it.

The choir, who originally shared their story with Sell Us Your Story, is made up of people who were directly infected and their families.

They released their first single, Together We Rise, on January 30, to honour all those affected.

Silence to Song travel to cities across the UK, encouraging people who have been infected by the scandal to join in with a session and record new songs.

Michael Clegg died when he was just 33 after being infected with hepatitis C in the early 80s.

He had been having blood transfusions as part of his treatment for kidney failure.

His son, also called Michael, was just 14 months old when he died and decided to join the choir to remember his dad.

Michael, 25, from Stockport, said: “I heard about the choir last year.

“I’m on a Facebook group called tainted blood and I heard about it on there. I was very keen.