Pride of Britain winner sets sail on ‘magical’ surprise trip

When Michelle Tolley won an award at the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards for her campaign work, she was on top of the world. But there was another surprise in store for her.

The 60-year-old (or as she likes to say, “59 plus one”) has been a tireless campaigner, fighting for answers for the more than 30,000 people infected with HIV and hepatitis C as part of the NHS infected blood scandal.

Last year, she won a Pride of Britain Special Recognition Award alongside fellow campaigners Andrew Evans and Jason Evans.

Michelle was at the side of the stage with other winners, watching midwife Agnes Nisbett receive an award. Hosts Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo told Agnes she was receiving a cruise holiday from P&O Cruises – the new headline partner for the awards from this year – before revealing that every 2024 winner would also get the same prize.

“I was so happy for her,” says Michelle. “Then they said, ‘No, all of you have won a cruise holiday!’”

For Michelle, this amazing surprise came after decades of ill health and hard work supporting fellow victims and holding the government to account.

She was infected with hepatitis C when receiving a blood transfusion following the birth of her first child in 1987. She endured 28 years of fatigue and illness, her symptoms dismissed by a doctor, before she was eventually diagnosed. And it was another year until she began treatment.

“I was so angry. I said to my husband Dean, ‘I have to channel this into something good, or I don’t know what I will do,’” Michelle says.

She went on to manage a support group for fellow sufferers, worked alongside the Hepatitis C Trust, and presented at the official government enquiry.

After all that, the prospect of a relaxing holiday was more than