{"id":637481,"date":"2026-09-27T10:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T10:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/637481\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T10:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T10:20:17","slug":"memorial-created-at-school-where-boys-were-infected-with-hiv-and-hepatitis-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/637481\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial created at school where boys were infected with HIV and hepatitis \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boys who were infected with HIV and hepatitis when they were experimented on as schoolchildren have been recognised with a new memorial.<\/p>\n

During the 1970s and 1980s, boys with the blood clotting disorder haemophilia were given experimental blood products while they attended the Lord Mayor\u2019s Treloar\u2019s College, a boarding school in Hampshire.<\/p>\n

Of the 122 pupils with haemophilia that attended the school between 1970 and 1987, only around 30 were still alive when the Infected Blood Public Inquiry published its main report into the scandal in 2024.<\/p>\n

Boys who were infected with HIV and hepatitis when they were experimented on as schoolchildren have been recognised with a new memorial.<\/p>\n

The report highlighted how \u201cvery few\u201d of the pupils with haemophilia that attended the school during the 1970s and 1980s \u201cescaped being infected\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/a>\"Councils<\/a><\/p>\n

It concluded that the pupils, commonly referred to as the Treloar Boys, had been treated as \u201cobjects of research\u201d and highlighted how the pupils were experimented on without their knowledge by NHS clinicians, who knew the dangers it posed.<\/p>\n

Now, a memorial has been installed at the college.<\/p>\n

The statue depicts two pupils, one with a sling and and another holding a cane, embracing each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemembering 122 haemophiliac pupils of Treloar\u2019s. Infected as children, victims of unethical research\u201d is scribed at the bottom of the memorial.<\/p>\n

It also features a quote from Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the public inquiry, which says: \u201cThis disaster was not an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RichardRichard Warwick, Adrian Goodyear, Steve Nicholls and Gary Webster (L-R) were among the 122 haemophiliac boys treated at Lord Mayor\u2019s Treloar\u2019s College in Hampshire in the 1970s and 1980s (Andrew Matthews\/PA) <\/p>\n

Adrian Goodyear, 55, said that when he first attended the school it felt like a \u201cnew dawn\u201d, adding: \u201cWhen I first arrived here with 10 other friends I was nine years old \u2013 we couldn\u2019t believe the place we were looking at: rolling country hills, swimming pools, canoes, a Jacobian mansion, it was just remarkable at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left school with death sentences,\u201d he told the Press Association, describing how he was infected with hepatitis and HIV while at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1985, a doctor tearfully said that I had two to three years to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told this with five other boys and the doctor went round the room and said: \u2018You have\u2026 you haven\u2019t\u2026 you have\u2026 you haven\u2019t\u2026 you have got HIV\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the last remaining boy in that room.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the memorial was important to keep the scandal \u201cin the public consciousness\u201d and to honour those who died.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were here we made promises\u2026 they died in front of us, one winter we lost five boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made promises to them, as did the other lads here today, that we would never give up, we would find out what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary Webster, 61, who was infected with HIV and hepatitis C when he attend Treloar\u2019s between 1975 and 1983, recalled how he was called to the doctor\u2019s office one dinner time as a child, was told he had HIV \u201cand had two years to live\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor eight years we were experimented on, unethically treated, it wasn\u2019t needed, it didn\u2019t improve our lives,\u201d he told the Press Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, it hindered our lives and gave us viruses that have killed over 90 boys so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that the memorial was important \u201cto remember what happened and to make sure it never happens again\u201d.<\/p>\n

Steve Nicholls, 59, who attended the school from 1976 to 1983, told the Press Association: \u201cI was eight years old, I was just a little boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents put their trust in the school and they were betrayed. We were subject of unethical research behind our parents\u2019 backs, it\u2019s as wrong then as it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the memorial, he added: \u201cThat statue represents me 50 years ago, it represents the boys 50 years ago, it\u2019s what we were.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt resembles the comradeship and the bonds that were formed at the college at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have known the majority of these boys for 50 years, I went to school with them for eight years: We played together, we slept in the same dormitories as each other and we were treated together. So, we became like brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were often referred to as \u2018blood brothers\u2019 and we\u2019ve stayed in contact throughout the years.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer pupils said the memorial would help \u2018remember what happened and to make sure it never happens again’ (Andrew Matthews\/PA) <\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe feel incredibly guilty for surviving it and getting through it when many of our friends didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Warwick, who attended the school between 1976 and 1982, said the memorial was a \u201csymbol of comradeship, friendship and support\u201d.<\/p>\n

Haemophilia is an inherited disorder where the blood does not clot properly.<\/p>\n

Most people with the condition have a shortage of the protein that enables human blood to clot, known as factor VIII.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, a new treatment was developed \u2013 factor concentrate \u2013 to replace the missing clotting agent which was made from donated human blood plasma.<\/p>\n

The inquiry concluded children at Treloar\u2019s were treated with multiple commercial concentrates that were known to carry higher risks of infection and staff favoured the \u201cadvancement of research\u201d above the best interests of the children.<\/p>\n

The report found that from 1977, medical research was carried out at Treloar\u2019s \u201cto an extent which appears unparalleled elsewhere\u201d and children were treated unnecessarily with concentrates, particularly commercial ones rather than alternative safer treatments.<\/p>\n

Sir Brian Langstaff\u2019s report found there is \u201cno doubt\u201d that the healthcare professionals at Treloar\u2019s were aware of the risks of virus transmission through blood and blood products.<\/p>\n

Sir Brian said: \u201cIt is important that we keep a spotlight on the lessons of the inquiry and never forget the human tragedies at the heart of this scandal which has left long scars, not only in this Hampshire community but across the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Des Collins, senior partner of Collins Solicitors, said: \u201cThe treatment the boys received here at Treloar\u2019s was negligent and amounted to a breach of the school\u2019s duty of care as well as a betrayal of the trust the parents placed in the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is about remembering the real-life consequences of responsibilities, at a local and state level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel Halford, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, said: \u201cDecades later, still no one has been prosecuted for what was done to the (Treloar\u2019s boys). We urge their police reports to be dealt with thoroughly and urgently.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we urge the Government to reconsider why they have set such a pitifully low sum of \u00a360,000 to compensate them for the unethical research undertaken on them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boys who were infected with HIV and hepatitis when they were experimented on as schoolchildren have been recognised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[270791,270792,270793,43179,270794,270795,270796,270797,103,14789,14794,61,270798,270799,270800,60,270801,112462,270802,35368,270803,270804,1577],"class_list":["post-637481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-adrian-goodyear","tag-brian-langstaff","tag-collins-solicitors","tag-contaminated-blood","tag-des-collins","tag-gary-webster","tag-haemophilia","tag-hampshire","tag-health","tag-hepatitis-c","tag-hiv","tag-ie","tag-infected-blood","tag-infected-blood-public-inquiry","tag-infected-blood-scandal","tag-ireland","tag-lord-mayors-treloars-college","tag-memorial","tag-richard-warwick","tag-south-east","tag-steve-nicholls","tag-treloar-boys","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}