But then news broke out that there was an Indiana kid who was banned from attending the public school system because he was diagnosed with this mysterious illness. Wait a minute. How did a 13 yr old boy become infected with HIV? He wasn’t gay (as far as people knew) and he didn’t inject drugs. But he was a hemophiliac, and as was discussed in the book “And the Band Played On”, the blood banks knew about the possible contamination of their blood supply but didn’t do anything about it. They claimed that there wasn’t a test available that was accurate in detecting HIV in the blood supply and also that it was too expensive for them to test all of the blood they have received using the test that was recommended (which was similar to a Hepatitis B test). So how did this end up? Hundred of people who had to have blood transfusions were infected with HIV. And then, America found many people like them getting infected with this virus as well.
One of these cases was Ryan White. During a procedure in 1984, it was discovered that he had contracted HIV. This was before any medication was discovered and it was barely after the time that the virus itself was thought to be causing people to become sick. Ryan White’s status was leaked out all over the town. When he finally was able to return to school, half the student body took the day off. The school superintendent decided that for the public’s safety Ryan White was not allowed to attend school. 117 parents and 50 teachers, according to Wikipedia, signed a petition to keep Ryan White out. I understand the fear that many of these people were having, especially since little was known at the time about HIV. Actually, the Indiana State Health Commissioner told the school that HIV can not be spread through casual contact. His statements were ignored. It saddens me that there wasn’t more sympathy for Ryan.
Although he was allowed back in school, he was harassed every day. Boys would call him queer. The school made him use his own bathroom and tried to isolate him as much as possible. It wasn’t until his house was shot at that his mother decided that there had to be a better place to live. When they moved to Cicero, Indiana, Ryan White was greeted at the public school there by the principal and a few students who after being educated on HIV, were willing to shake his hand. After going through this debacle and with a more comfortable living situation, he decided to start fighting back.
Ryan White became friends with many celebrities at the time who were fighting for HIV/AIDS education and treatment. Michael Jackson, Liz Taylor and Elton John to name a few. He spoke up to Ronald and Nancy Regan stating that not enough was being done by the national government to curb the epidemic that was becoming world wide. He became a spokesperson and a public figure for HIV and AIDS. And even up to the end of his life, he would talk about his plans for college and how excited he was for his Senior Prom.
Ryan White became sick and passed away on April 8, 1990. He never was able to graduate High School. He never made it to his senior prom. But in those six years after he was diagnosed with HIV, he did incredible things to progress the fight against HIV.
Four months after his death, Congress passed the first Ryan White Care act in August. The Ryan White Care Act is the largest federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS. It was just reauthorized again in September of 2009 by President Obama.
There is a place in the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis that honors the work that Ryan White had done as a child pioneer. On April 9th, there will be a large event at Indiana University featuring Elton John to remember the 20th anniversary of Ryan White’s passing. His mother expressed how happy she was that the University of Indiana was doing this event, especially because it was the school he wanted to go to after high school.
No comments:
Post a Comment