The Loose Women panel struggled to hold back their tears as a friend's tragic death comes was aired during a chat on The British Blood Scandal
The atmosphere on Loose Women turned deeply heartfelt as the panel delved into ITV's harrowing new documentary The British Blood Scandal: Poisoned at school.
The Wednesday (May 1) show, featuring Christine Lampard, Denise Welch, Jane Moore, and Janet Street Porter, became impassioned as they implored audiences to engage with the heart-wrenching stories of schoolboy victims entangled in what they dubbed a "shocking medical cover-up" of our era.
Janet was visibly affected during the segment as she recounted a close friend's experience; he tragically passed away following surgery involving "contaminated NHS blood".
Christine set the tone by acknowledging: "We all watched it last night and of course Janet, a very difficult watch. It was incredibly emotional."
With palpable emotion in her voice, Janet agreed, adding, "It was incredibly hard to watch, it was particularly hard for me because a few years ago I had a friend who received contaminated blood in an operation and he's dead now.", reports Belfast Live.
As she briefly paused, overcome with feeling, she admitted to being deeply moved by the documentary, and then, regaining her composure, Janet courageously continued discussing the chilling details of what she described as "the worst medical disaster in NHS history".
Janet disclosed: "This was a story of four boys, now men who went to a college in the West Country and they were really excited to go there, it was a great college, it had a great reputation and they went there because they were all haemophiliacs [a bleeding disorder where blood doesn't clot properly]."
The television personality continued by sharing that despite 3,000 people having died from receiving "contaminated blood" and over 30,000 still suffering from conditions like HIV and hepatitis C, there have been no arrests or financial compensation for the victims.
Janet pointed out that the government had "set aside £11 billion" for potential compensation claims, but emphasised that the victims featured in the ITV documentary were less interested in the money and more focused on obtaining justice for those who had passed away.
The harrowing true story, which was broadcast on ITV1 last night (Tuesday, May 20), recounted the experiences of students at Lord Mayor Treloar College, many of whom contracted Hepatitis and HIV.
A cohort of men, now in their 50s, revisited Lord Mayor Treloar College years after they had sought a "normal childhood" there as children with haemophilia.
However, their time at the boarding school led them to become unwitting subjects of medical research at an NHS medical centre located within the college. Out of the 122 haemophiliacs who were at Treloars during the 1970s and 1980s, only about 30 survive today.
The men have spent decades battling for justice and now the film follows their journey leading up to the final report of the public inquiry, where they hope for long-awaited recognition of the truth.
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1, from 12:30pm.
