Theresa Mallett says she was distraught after going home to Glenrothes after attending her first Edinburgh protest over the Dr Sam Eljamel scandal.
The Fife gran, 62, spent years suffering silently after a botched operation at the hands of the disgraced NHS Tayside surgeon in 2012 – but discovered she was not alone.
Lifelong nationalist Theresa immediately decided to turn her anger into action as she signed up to attend an SNP independence conference at Dundee’s Caird Hall.
She decided to “go Rambo” at Humza Yousaf during his speech, pleading for a public inquiry into why Eljamel was able to harm his victims for so long.
Her unexpected intervention, which we reported in full, made national headlines. The former first minister stopped and spoke to her, even visiting Theresa at her home.
One year on, Theresa reflects on that “surreal” moment and whether she reckons her decision to shout down the ex-SNP leader was crucial to securing an inquiry.
“I’ve no regrets. I’m really glad I did it,” she says. “It was the only way to get their attention.”
“I was so angry and upset after meeting people at the protest, and just traumatised.”
Theresa says she wasn’t phased by all the attention she got in the immediate aftermath, even though it was unusual for her.
“I just took it in my stride,” she says.
“I was just telling my story. After all those years of not being listened to, it was such a relief.”
Just over two months later, Mr Yousaf relented to the demands of Eljamel’s harmed patients and granted the inquiry they spent years fighting for.
There’s little doubt Theresa’s stunt in Dundee, on June 24 last year, put the government on notice and gave campaigners extra fuel for their fight.
“I think it was important,” Theresa says. “I just had to push them in the right direction.”
Theresa says she was unimpressed by then First Minister Mr Yousaf’s visit to her weeks after she dramatically confronted him.
‘Token visit’
“It was just a token visit to shut me up,” she says.
Theresa had backed independence for more than 30 years when she stepped up to challenge the SNP leader, regularly attending marches.
But she’s now turned firmly against the party she once loved due to their handling of the debacle – and has no plan to go back.
She says: “They’ve shown themselves not to be trustworthy.
“As far as independence goes, I’ve heard people say they’ve put the cause back 10 years. I’d say they’ve put the cause back well out of my lifetime.”
Theresa cancelled her SNP membership and stopped giving the party money last year, but got an email last week urging her to reconsider.
“I thought it was quite amusing,” she says. “What a cheek.”
And her vote is still up for grabs next week when she goes to the ballot box.
She says: “I haven’t made up my mind. But it definitely won’t be the SNP. I’ll never vote for them again.”
Since she welcomed him into her home, Theresa got a closer insight than many into Mr Yousaf during his time in the top job.
Does she have any sympathy for the first minister following his dramatic downfall?
“I think he’s better out of it actually,” she says. “I think anybody’s better out of the SNP.”
Next up for Theresa and Eljamel’s victims is the long-awaited public inquiry.
A chair has been appointed, but no start date has been announced. Theresa is sceptical it will get under way anytime soon.
And she feels like campaigners are locked out of the process.
She tells us: “We don’t get told anything. We don’t know what’s going on.”
But whatever happens, she still takes plenty of pride in that big dramatic moment at Caird Hall last June.
“I think I nailed it bang on,” she says. “I went in and said what I had to say, and left under my own steam.”
The SNP was approached for comment.
READ MORE: See our wider award-winning coverage of the Eljamel scandal here.
Conversation