Ryan White Aids Activist

Ryan White, AIDS Activist

By: Alexis Hancock

Ryan White was an exceptional person who defied all of the odds and changed the way the world viewed AIDS forever. Ryan had a rough childhood in and out of hospitals, and was diagnosed with the incurable disease, AIDS, at a very young age. He faced many hardships trying to fit in due to his illness, and the ignorance of others. Ryan White is one of the most influential AIDS activist to date. Even though Ryan had a difficult childhood, a terminal disease, and faced judgment each day he changed the world for people with AIDS everywhere.

Ryan White was born on December 6th, 1971 in the town of Kokomo, Indiana. At just three days old his parents were informed that Ryan had a disease called hemophilia. Hemophilia is a disorder of your blood-clotting system that makes it harder for the body to clot blood when it receives a cut. It can cause internal bleeding and even bleeding into the joints. Luckily his parents came across a new treatment for this disease called Factor VII. Yet, even with the treatment he still had to be cautious. For the next six years he was constantly in and out of hospitals. In December of 1984, when Ryan was just thirteen years old he caught pneumonia. He had to receive surgery to remove a part of his left lung, and after two hours of surgery the doctors gave his parents the news that would change the rest of their lives.

Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS. AIDS is a fatal disease with no cure. The doctors said he got the disease from the blood transfusions he had been earlier receiving to help his hemophilia. Someone with AIDS donated blood and he received the blood with the virus. He stated "I came face-to-face with death at 13 years old."

As if his life wasn't already hard enough, he now had to face prejudice against him for receiving a disease that wasn't even his fault. Who would think the hardest part of having a terminal disease would be people passing judgments on you? He never expected what was about to come. There were issues with him attending school. Although the Indiana State Board of Health said it was safe the teachers, school board, principal and even the parents of other students tried to keep him from attending school. Everyone at Western Middle School in Russiaville feared that Ryan would spread the disease, though it cannot spread through casual contact. One hundred seventeen parents and 50 teachers signed a petition to try to encourage the school leaders to ban Ryan White from school. The principal gave in so that the rest of the students were sure to be safe from this disease. The White family weren't going to accept this so they filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban. On November 25th, an Indiana Department of Education officer ruled that the school has to follow the Indiana Board of Health guidelines. The Whites had won, Ryan was now able to attend school. Even though Ryan was now allowed at school it was still very apparent that he was still an outsider. The White family agreed to meet their neighbors' concerns by having Ryan use a separate restroom, not take gym class, drink out of a separate water fountain, and use disposable eating utensils and trays at lunch. Although the White family made all of these changes 20 students were pulled out of school by their parents, to keep them from having contact with White. There were people everywhere discouraging Ryan White, but he still kept a positive outlook.

School was not the only place White was alienated. Lies were spread about him biting people, and spitting on vegetables and cookies to try to spread the disease. Other students even vandalized his locker. White told the Commission, "I was labeled a troublemaker, my mom an unfit mother and I was not welcome anywhere. People would get up and leave so they would not have to sit anywhere near me. Even at church, people would not shake my hand." A bullet was fired through the White's living room window, making it apparent they needed to leave Kokomo. At the end of the school year White and his family moved to Cicero, Indiana. He was enrolled at Hamilton Heights High School, and was nervous he would receive the same treatment as before. His fears were proven wrong when he met the school principal, the school system superintendent and even a few students who had been educated about AIDS and were able to shake Ryan White's hand. A handshake may not seem significant to someone who's never faced an illness like this, but to Ryan White it meant the world.

His trial made it into the national spotlight and soon enough everyone had heard of this brave young man. Between the years of 1985 and 1987, the number of news stories about