A WOMAN who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion told her story during a vigil for World Aids Day in Blackburn Cathedral.

Catherine Slater, 41, of Bank Top, Blackburn, presented a monologue about living with the virus, which she contracted after treatment for a hereditary bleeding disorder.

The congregation also heard from a teenage HIV suffererer and two people working to combat the spread of the disease in South Africa.

More than 150 people attended the special service last night.

Today's World Aids Day aims to raise awareness and promote prevention of the disease. There are more than 100 people receiving treatment for HIV in East Lancashire, and more than 4,000 across the North West, and the figure is rising.

Catherine was infected with HIV when she was treated with contaminated blood in 1982.

She said: "It could have been in hospital, at home, I could have injected myself with it, or it could have been one of my parents or my sisters.

"It took them a long time to come to terms with what happened, it has taken me even longer."

Catherine was studying to be a nurse when she was told she had been infected. But she went on to qualify and worked caring for people for eight years. Today she works as a volunteer, giving talks like the one at the cathedral to raise awareness of the disease.

She added: "I don't have to suffer the brunt of the stigma anymore, and, because I can talk about it, I feel like I should.

"I don't want pity. The virus does not choose who to infect."

She said she takes solace in meditation and walking her dog.

HIV (Human Immunodefici-ency Virus) is a virus which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids), a condition in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening infections.

In the main it is contracted through contaminated needles or blood, unprotected sex, and from an infected mother to her baby at birth or through breast milk.

Canon Chris Chivers, who led the service, praised Catherine and a 17-year-old called Glenn from Preston, who also spoke, for their courage.

Kim Hope and Stuart Craig also told of their work to stop the spread of the disease in South Africa.