Thank You Ryan White

[Jeffreyj]

People often ask me how I have survived HIV/AIDS for 22 years. Well, the answer in large part, is Ryan White. In 1984 when I found out I was HIV+ I was seriously thinking about taking my own life. Then Ryan White came along. I have never know a more brave, courageous man in my life. What he had to put up with was just unbelievable. I would ask you all to take a few minutes to read the following link and go to Ryan White.
http://www.hardtruthaboutaids.com/Misc/memorial/memorial.htm
This is the bravest person I have ever known. All of us owe a great deal of gratitude to this unique, outstanding individual. His bravery single handedly saved tens of thousands of lives. Mine included. I love you Ryan White. You are still my hero to this very day. Thank you for giving me the courage to endure. I am forever grateful.

[J.R.E.]

Hello Jeff,

Very nice post. No doubt, a lot of people owe their lives to The Ryan White care act. I wonder how many people remember Ryan White, or for that matter know of him.( I am sure there are a lot that don't) I have been fortunate so far to still have good insurance coverage, so I have not used RWCA.

Ryan's mother was in Tampa a couple of months ago, at a seminar. I wish I could have had the opportunity to see her. Maybe next time... He was a very brave young man...



Take care---Ray

[Sdgirl]

I remember when I originally heard of Ryan White and what he had to go through.  I remember thinking what a brave little boy he was.  I would have never thought that years later I would be depending on his courage to make my life a better one.

Lisa

[Terry]

A few years ago I watched a documentary on his life. It truly was more about the love of a mother for her son than anything else, plus the courage of a little boy who just wanted to be a “Little Boy” like all his other friends.

It showed the hatred that ignorance can breed. It showed the violence of a mob mentality when they set her house on fire. It showed the lack of courage in our elected officials. At first, no one stepped forward to help this single mother. In the end she had to move to another town. It was a tearjerker!

Terry

[kcmetroman]

Here's another story

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2996531,00.html

[AlanBama]

Great post, Jeff.

I always admired Ryan so much, and his Mother is an incredible person.  They lived through a hell that many of us cannot even imagine.   I so vividly remember when he died, and seeing his funeral on television, and being so incredibly sad and hopeless.   I lost my dear friend and cousin in November of that same year, and the funeral homes here would not embalm his body.

I'd like to think we have come a long way since those awful days.   It's a time that is definitely worth remembering.

Thanks Jeff....

Alan

PS  - you can read more about him at www.ryanwhite.com

[ademas]

Thank for the great post and link. 

I, too, remember vividly the day Ryan lost his battle, and all the emotion it brought up in me.  So many had died--and so many were still dying--that it was almost hard to find any more tears.  In life and in death, Ryan White had a profound affect on me, and his legacy is certainly responsible for me being here today.

[otherplaces]

Thanks Jeff.  I haven't read about Ryan since my diagnosis...and it's definitely time.  I lived in Indianapolis as a kid while all that was going on.  I guess all I remember thinking is that it was weird.  Not that Ryan was weird but the whole controversy.  I didn't understand.  I also remember people saying he worked at the skate shop I use to go to.  I don't know if that was true, just another abstract memory of him.

But yes, a truly amazing individual. Really, when I think of all the people that have fallen and how beautiful they were...I just feel like I need to pull my life together and carry on their hope.

love,
brian

[HIVworker]

An interesting link. I went and did a bit more reading about some of the people as I forgot that Anthony Perkins died of AIDS. He released this statement when he died.

"There are many who believe this disease is God's vengeance. But I believe it was sent to teach people how to love and understand and have compassion for each other. I have learned more about love, selflessness and human understanding from people I have met in this great adventure in the world of AIDS, than I ever did in the cutthroat, competitive world in which I spent my life."

I must admit that this board is evidence of his conviction about learning of love and human understanding.

R

[kiki06]

It is because of Ryan White that my son is here today, the funding helped me be able to see a top-notch doctor in our area and helped assure that he arrived here safely and negative. I literally owe him everything because my son is my life, I STILL receive help with doctors appointments and medication through the assistance fund.

Thank you Ryan!

[JR Gabbard]

Thanks for giving us all the opportunity to remember Ryan!

I never met Ryan, but....

The school that refused to let him into the classroom in '84 or '85, Western School District in Russiaville, IN, was the high school I graduated from in '81.  Members of my family (on my father's side) helped organize an alternative school so that "normal" children wouldn't have to sit in the same room with him.  These two facts are to my eternal shame.  I come from hicks in the sticks.

Needless to say, I did not disclose my status to them until much later--1994, to my mother as she lay dying of breast cancer.  Her reaction?  "Did you do something to give me this?"

Ignorance abounds, then and now, although its face has changed with time.  The best thing you can do is to develop a way not to let it in.

I've visited his gravesite in Cicero, IN.  It is quite lovely and peaceful.

Thank you, Ryan.  You have helped us all in ways you probably never could have imagined.

J. R.

[krakerjm]

My first couple of years, I didn't know who Ryan White was, was just told that was the act helping me.  Later I read some things, broke my heart, but, that's where it all began; and for me too before medicare and medicaid, wold have died otherwise.  Rarely need to use it now, but it's still there and updated yearly if I need it.  From all ugly thnigs there is eventually some good, either for ourselves or someone else.

[Moffie65]

In a few minutes, I am off to a Ryan White Consortium meeting.  I am reminded of him almost daily, and was priveleged to hear his Mom tell the horror story of his very short life.  I say horror story, due to all the "CHRISTIAN" friends of the family, that showed so much Christian love, in running the family out of school, town, and out of the church.  Aren't Christians totally "Christ-like"?

The rest of the people were also quite a memory trip for me.  I remember the day many of these people died, and personally can account for 186 people that I personally knew and either worked with or were friends in San Francisco.  Randy Shilts was one of the San Francisco Chronicle's best reporters, and the work he did to keep us all informed in the Bay Area, was formidible.  All of this while the conservative owners of the paper were fighting to keep his column out of the paper. 

We all owe our lives to countless heros, who through their actions and deaths, have given us hope for a good life. 

In Love and Sorrow.

[MoltenStorm]

I remember reading his biography in 6th or 7th grade. That was the first time I'd ever heard of HIV/AIDS.

Would be interesting to revisit that story now.

Christ would be appalled by most of the "Christians" in today's world.

[libra11_dj]

 I just wanna say THANK U SO MUCH! I wont be here taking my meds if it weren't for him.