“Losing Gary, my soul mate, was beyond painful,” says Kathryn Croucher, whose husband died aged 42 in 2010.

“Every day was a struggle dealing with the knowledge he was HIV and Hepatitis C positive.”

“Mum always said she was given a death sentence,” recalls Ronan Fitzgerald. His mother, Jane, died aged 54 after being infected with Hepatitis C when she was 16. “It was a ticking time bomb.”

Sky News will have full coverage of the infected blood report on TV, online and on the Sky News app today.

More than 30,000 Britons were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.

Around 3,000 people have died as a result of the scandal, while many more still live under the shadow of health problems, debilitating treatments and stigma. Now, the findings of a public inquiry, first announced in 2017, will finally be published.

These are 100 faces of infected blood victims that either they, or their families, have shared with Sky News.

“I’m never drinking tap water again,” Kayley Lewis says.

“My symptoms have made me lose a stone in two weeks.”

Ms Lewis and her two children have been suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps for over a fortnight – since South West Water found small traces of the parasite cryptosporidium in the Hillhead reservoir.

“I can’t trust them [South West Water] again.

“I might start using tap water for dishes… but definitely never to drink. Ever.

“I’ve been completely put off now… especially because of how poorly it makes you feel.

“I just don’t think I could ever try and risk going back to that.”

At least 46 people are confirmed to have the disease, while as many as 70 other cases of diarrhoea and vomiting are also under investigation, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.

South West Water (SWW) has repeatedly apologised – telling Sky News today that they are working “around the clock” to get all households back to using safe water again.

This could be as early as this Wednesday, drought and resilience director at SWW David Harris told me.

“We’re looking at somewhere between mid to late next week before we’ll be in a position to be able to responsibly lift that boil water notice.”

So far, 14,500 households in the Alston supply area can drink their tap water without boiling it first – as advised by SWW.

However, some 2,500 homes in Hillhead, upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear have been told to continue boiling – and cooling – their water supplies before drinking it.

Steve Price, who runs the Station Guest House B&B near Brixham, said he lost a couple of thousand pounds in bookings due to – understandably – paranoid customers.

“Losses we anticipate are roughly around £2000 from people that have cancelled and directly stated that the cancellation was due to the water situation.

“So we would anticipate that at the bare minimum as compensation.”

Read more
Contamination ‘shouldn’t have happened’, SWW boss says
Water firm apologises after parasite detected in reservoir
Parasite outbreak has ‘destroyed’ business, residents say

Mr Price has spent the afternoon emptying the B&B’s water tanks in order to minimise the risk to his guests.

“In terms of money – we’re just flushing it away!

“A couple of hundred pounds worth. But this supply feeds the showers, sinks and bathrooms.

“It needs to be completely emptied and cleaned to avoid risks”.

Mr Price’s business isn’t the only one suffering.

It’s a bleak picture across the neighbouring towns.

This time of year Brixham is usually buzzing with holidaymakers – especially by the harbour side.

The past week, however, has been another story.

“It’s a ghost town”, Sally Tollon, an employee at a local chippy tells me.

“We’re really quiet… you can see it’s empty, because people are frightened to come down because of the water situation.

“On average we make a thousand pounds a day. Yesterday we did half of that.”

Despite things slowly getting back to normal, people are scared.

They have lost faith and trust in a water supply – one woman told me – they had “always taken for granted”.

It’s clear rebuilding the community’s trust and confidence in their water supplier will take some time in the coming weeks and months.

At every step through the Infected Blood Inquiry, he has been in his family’s hearts and minds.

Just like every other bereaved family carrying the memories of loved ones throughout their long fight for justice.

“The way I feel… I don’t feel like my brother can rest until we all rest,” Peter Lloyd’s sister Sarah told Sky News.

Mr Lloyd was the second of seven siblings.

He joined the RAF and loved serving his country. He became a chief technician and was posted to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

However, it was a car crash in the UK in July 1985 that caused him to suffer horrendous injuries.

He had a blood transfusion in hospital that he and his family believed had saved his life. That may have been true, but it also, years later, led to his death.

He was only told more than a decade after the transfusion that he’d received contaminated blood. He was diagnosed with hepatitis C shortly after.

Mr Lloyd later developed bowel and liver cancer and died aged 55 in 2008.

‘It tears your life apart’

His family’s mission since then has been to help ensure the whole scandal of contaminated blood transfusions is fully understood.

His sister Sarah Martin, 66, told Sky News that compensation should be paid, but that it can’t put right the wrongs: “I’d rather have my brother, I’d rather not have any money.

“He’s gone – they have taken him through reckless blood transfusions.

“It’s just heartbreaking it tears your life apart.”

Read more:
Boy, 7, was ‘used in secret trials before HIV infection’
The boys secretly experimented on at school

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Mr Lloyd’s youngest sister Louise Huxley, 57, added: “It shouldn’t be like this – it shouldn’t be this hard.

“We’re finally coming to the end of this saga and we are hopeful that we will finally get justice and closure.”

“If the prime minister does speak about the final report on Monday I hope there is sincerity,” she added.

“There’s been years of cover ups, lies and injustice – we just want it to end.”

The final report from the six-year public inquiry will be published in London on Monday.