The Story of Ryan White Ryan White was a teenager from Kokomo, Indiana born December 6, 1971, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States, after being expelled from middle school because of his infection. Ryan was a hemophiliac that became infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment. (Department of Health and Human Resources) A hemophiliac is a person affected with a blood defect that is characterized by delayed clotting of the blood. (Merriam Webster, 2018) When diagnosed in December 1984, he was given six months to live. (Department of Health and Human Resources) After being diagnosed Ryan tried to return to school, where he fought AIDS related discrimination in his Indiana community. (HRSA, 2016) Surprising …show more content…
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was widely associated with the male gay community because it was first diagnosed among gay men. That perception shifted when Ryan White and others appeared in the media to advocate for more AIDS research and public education. (Department of Health and Human Resources) Ryan was one of the first children and one of the first hemophiliacs to come down with AIDS and it was a time where the information was spare and the public had little education. (HRSA, 2016) When Ryan contracted pneumonia in he had surgery to remove part of his left lung. During his surgery, Ryan being a hemophilic had to receive a Factor VII blood transfusion. After two hours of the surgery his doctors told his parents that Ryan contracted the incurable disease of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Someone with the disease had donated blood, and the virus had been in the blood that Ryan received. (Ryan White Facts, 2010) Ryan came face-to-face with death at the age of thirteen when the doctors gave him six months to live and that is when he decided then that he was going to …show more content…
He was in middle school at the time and enjoyed going to learn and hang out with his friends. When Ryan returned to school he did not count on the ignorance, fear, and hatred he would encounter from the Kokomo, Indiana community. (Ryan White Facts, 2010) Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, but AIDS was poorly understood at the time and when Ryan tired to return to school many rallied against his attendance. (Department of Health and Human Resources) The school board, the principal and Ryan's teachers tried to keep him out of school with fear he would spread the disease, even though it was known by then that AIDS cannot be spread by casual contract. Ryan and his mother took the case to court after he was expelled. Eventually they agreed to meet some concerns and had Ryan use a separate restroom, water fountain, not take gym class, and use disposable eating utensils and trays. (Ryan White Facts, 2010) At that point in Ryan's life it was not easy but that is when he became public. He became more ill and his family was suffering with his medical bills. His mother had to take off work and could not afford the expensive hospital bills for treatment. Five years longer than predicted Ryan passed away April of 1990. In honor of his story the CARE act was