Ryan White was an American teen hero of his time, who battled various health complication during his 18years of life, yet he turned around the notion of HIV/Aids to many, by spreading out the light about the disease which was not popular during the time. He was born on December 6th, 1971 in Kokomo, Indiana. Three days into his life, doctors discovered that he was hemophiliac (a blood disorder) and was put under factor VII which he received twice a week. In the process treatment, Ryan was administered with a contaminated Factor VII leading to him being HIV positive. This status went on unnoticed until December 17, 1984, when he had left lung surgery. During the operation, that's when the doctors discovered that Ryan had contracted HIV and was in its late stages. They advised that Ryan had only six months to live; although he lived for more five years.
Although doctored assured people that his status was not a health risk to other people since HIV was not airborne but spread through contact with body fluid, Ryan was denied readmission at school. Parents and teachers in Howard County held demos and rallies against his re-entry terming his presence a health threat their children. The news of the disputes at the school and subsequent court cases seeking readmission spread and soon Ryan became a popular teen across the U.S. the popularity he gained turned him into an advocate for Aids research and public educator. He would move from school to school educating children and teachers about HIV/AIDS, a disease that no one was much willing to talk about in public. This initiative turned out to be very important as it drastically turned around people's perception about AIDs and how to live healthy with people living with AIDs (Cummings & Gruenert, 2009). During this period, the few people who were known to be HIV positive faced a lot of persecution and stigmatization, as people thought it was a kind of cause, punishment from God or something worse.
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When the community in Kokomo became so hostile to him and his family, to the extent that there was a time a bullet was fired at his home, the family moved to Cicero, still in Indiana. The community in Cicero was more aware of the disease, and they received a warm welcome to the community. Ryan was happy because he could now be able to resume his education. Back at school, a fellow school mate girl known as Jill Stuart, and who was the president of students' body, who brought in the medical experts to educate the children about HIV/AIDS. After the session, these children were encouraged to go and teach their parents on the sane, and this is how the community became more enlightened and friendlier with people with HIV. For the first time, Ryan was happy to have friend s and family that understood his status and were happy and comfortable to live with him.
As an educator, he appeared on many television programs where he discussed issues concerning HIV/AIDS. Some of the TV programs he appeared on includes; The Good Morning Show, CBS Morning News, Nightline, and many others. Ryan was also on the front covers of the Saturday Evening Post, Picture Week, and People Magazine as his life told the real story of AIDS. His story had a substantial impact on the subject matter of AIDS. He changed the mindset of many Americans, and people learned to accept and live with the reality of the disease. Ryan died on April 8th, 1990, a month before his high school graduation as well as the passing of AIDS legislation in his name by the Congress Called the Ryan White CARE Act (Heger, 2013).
References
Cummings, T., & Gruenert, S. (2009). When a Student Discloses HIV: What Ryan White’s Fan Letters Teach Us about Counteracting Stigma. Journal for the Liberal Arts and Sciences , 13 (2), 103.
Heger, A. J. (2013). Portrait of a Pioneer: An Analysis of Print Media Coverage of Ryan White, 1985-1990 (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University).
