THE funeral of a Co Antrim man who was infected with contaminated blood during one of the worst scandals in NHS history will take place on Friday.
Simon Hamilton (63) and his twin brother Nigel both faced serious long-term illness after they received blood in separate incidents.
It meant they required decades of treatment for Hepatitis C, liver cirrhosis and cancer.
The tragedy first started in the 1970s and 1980s, when the NHS used infected blood from individuals including prisoners and drug addicts – which ultimately led to the death of over 3,000 people and infected up to 30,000 patients with HIV and other life-threatening illnesses.
It was further estimated that over 400 people in Northern Ireland became infected, but it remains unknown how many deaths the infected blood caused as many died from secondary illnesses.
Passing away suddenly at Antrim Hospital on Christmas Day, Simon had long campaigned for justice and served as chair of Haemophilia Northern Ireland.
Simon’s twin Nigel first became infected as a teenager in 1974, when a car accident required him to have an eye operation.
He did not realise he had been infected with hepatitis C until the 1990s and he later developed liver cancer which meant he required a transplant.
Simon later became infected with Hepatitis C in 1986, but did not realise this until the mid-1990s.
Speaking to the Irish News, Nigel said his brother had been dedicated to helping others to achieve justice.
“It’s been a difficult time for Simon, he was only 63 like I was. He was very active in his local faith community as well as an activist in the haemophilia community,” he said.
“Simon was our champion, very much so. I would have been his right hand in the Northern Ireland campaign.
“While I voted for him and set up lobbying, Simon was very much the key brain behind the issues. He was very strategic, generous and considerate and he was an extremely good conciliator.
“So that worked wonders whenever you’re dealing with a community that’s been impacted throughout the UK.”
He said the many tributes he had received for his brother came from haemophilia groups across the UK and Ireland as well as the former senior civil servant Sue Gray, who had helped Simon when she was permanent secretary for Stormont’s Finance department.
“From our perspective it has been a great loss and quite a serious shock. It’s very devastasting for me as his twin as you can imagine,” said Nigel.
“As identical twins we thought very closely but we also had our differences, and those were the challenges that helped us to identify how we moved forward on issues.”
Looking ahead to the infected blood inquiry’s final report in March next year, Nigel said he would keep working to achieve justice and compensation for the victims.
“I appreciate the recognition of the work he has done which has been considerable. That in itself will be a considerable legacy for his achievements.”
When Simon appeared at a public inquiry into the scandal in 2019, he had called the hearings “our last real chance to hear the ugly truth and see justice after too long.”
“We have all lost friends in this disaster and this will be a moment for them.”
A family notice said that Simon was the dearly loved husband of Olive, father to Ethan, son of Betty and the late Sydney as well as brother to Nigel and Linley.
His funeral will take place at 1pm on Friday in Killymurris Presbyterian Church, with burial afterwards in the adjoining graveyard.
