At 41 years of age, Bob Leary was told he had just 15 years left to live.

Rushed to hospital with a burst intestine in 1986, Bob's operation required him to have a blood transfusion.

Yet the blood that had been used was contaminated and as a result, he contracted Hepatitis C.

It would take a further five years for the bus-driving tour guide from Bonnyrigg to be told he had the potentially life-threatening virus.

"I got a letter saying there was an abnormality in my liver, and when I saw [doctors] at another appointment they said I had Hep C," Bob recalls, now 71.

"I hadn't a clue what that was."

Hepatitis C is a virus which is spread through blood to blood contact.

Those who are most at risk of becoming infected with hepatitis C are those who inject drugs or who have done so in the past.

Other high risk groups include men who have sex with other men, people in the South Asian community and those who have received a blood transfusion prior to 1991.

It is estimated that 37,000 people in Scotland are infected with hepatitis C and if left untreated, it can lead to liver cancer, liver failure and death.

World Hepatitis Day is being marked on July 28 and The Hepatitis C Trust aim to raise awareness of the virus among the population and to urge people to get tested.

It was recently announced that a five-year study would take place looking at whether the virus can be eliminated entirely if treatment is sufficiently increased.

Bob was one of thousands of people in the 80s who had contracted Hepatitis C from blood products brought over from America by the NHS, now known as the contaminated blood scandal.

Products had been provided by people who were paid for donating their blood and some of those included drug users and sex workers.

Just one infected sample could contaminate an entire batch.

The Penrose inquiry produced a report into hepatitis C and HIV infections from NHS Scotland treatment using blood and blood products in 2015, however, the report was criticised for not apportioning blame.

"It was very difficult to get them to acknowledge that there was a big mistake made when they brought these bloods from America and didn't screen them," Bob recalls.

For Bob, the blood transfusions which had saved his life during surgery, would go on to weaken his body so much he would require a liver transplant.

After being given his life expectancy, Bob went on to live his life as normal as possible, hoping that in the next few years a cure could be found.

In the meantime he went through numerous medical trials and treatments, which were not successful.

While Bob says some people were understanding, he felt there was a stigma surrounding his diagnosis.

"In my work I explained to people 'don't worry, you can touch me, you wont get a disease', it's not that kind of thing.

"There was a stigma attached to it. Unfortunately, Hep C got treated like some other illnesses attached to drugs, because a lot of Hep C patients were drug users and shared needles and things like that.

He adds: "When you hear someone say they have a liver problem, you think of alcohol."

Eventually Bob started to feel so unwell he started making lifestyle changes.

Although not a heavy drinker, Bob gave up drinking socially and moved onto non-alcoholic beer.

Yet travelling to Singapore to meet his son who lives in Australia, he was shocked to see how the virus had changed his father.

He was gaunt, his eyes yellowing and he suffered horrific cramps in which his fingers would cross over.

"I was in tears, totally in tears that's how painful it was," he says.

Despite the strain of the virus on Bob's life, he commends his wife Norma, three children and friends for sticking by him during the truly terrible days.

He said: "My family helped me through the bad times, they understood nothing could be done so they supported me in being positive in going forward and we got to where we are today."

Despite his positivity, hepatitis C was continuing to attack Bob's liver, his virus scarring him to the point he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 2010.

"Thinking back, you didn't realise it at the time, but you were losing a little bit of your body," he says.

"You were getting weaker but it was gradual so you didn't notice at first. And then it got worse and my liver went downhill."

In 2013 Bob's liver was so damaged he was admitted to hospital and told he would need a liver transplant which he received in December that year.

It would become a turning point in Bob's treatment for Hepatitis C.

A few years after his liver transplant, new drugs came on the market which saw 95% of sufferers finally cured after years of torment.

In January 2017, he began a 12 week course of new tablets and afterwards was told he was finally cured.

He remains on immune-suppressant tablets but for Bob his hepatitis C journey has come to an end and he is now living life to the full.

"When I felt cured, let's put it this way I don't drink but I could have got the champagne out and I could have had a party with my family, friends and anyone else who passed on the street," he laughs.

"If you imagine you've been told you're dying, you've had this hanging over you for years and then you get to the stage there's new drugs and then suddenly you are told after all this time you are now cleared. It was party time."

Bob is encouraging anyone to go and get tested for hepatitis C in the hopes that they can avoid the two decades of torment he was subjected to.

He adds: "I still work two days a week and I spread the word and I go out and enjoy myself.

"I did change my outlook on life, I don't worry about dying now, I've had all of that I go out and I live my life.

"It's as simple as that."