Thirty-four years ago as of April 8, 2024, Ryan White lost his battle with HIV/AIDS. Nevertheless, Ryan won so much more. He won the hearts of so many people who saw this courageous young man battle prejudice and illness to educate America and the world about what AIDS was about — who could contract this terrible disease and how ignorant people were about its transmission.
Ryan fought to stay in school to show that AIDS could not be passed on by just being in the same space as someone who had AIDS. He wanted to enlighten those who used religious hypocrisy to say it was a punishment from God.
AIDS was a pandemic that affected people from different walks of life. It was not a gay disease but a deadly virus that could affect anyone including those who had blood transfusion or blood products.
I was born with hemophilia in 1955. I was extremely fortunate that I did not contract HIV/AIDS. Many I knew in the hemophilia community did and perished. It was a terrible time, but also a time we must learn from — pandemics are deadly and the government has to develop strategies to act quickly when they occur. Unfortunately, this did not happen with AIDS in the ’80s or COVID in 2020.
Ryan White lived his life selflessly to help others. He did that to the very end of his existence, and his work was carried on bravely by his mother, Jeanne White-Ginder.
We owe them a debt of gratitude that only can partially be repaid by learning to be vigilant about the threat of pandemics and never forget that love, and not false judgments, must endure.