An AIDS Sufferer Observed
by P Atkinson (2002)

How an apparent AIDS sufferer appeared to recover until he resumed his Gay lifestyle.

On meeting her son at Sydney airport when he took a holiday from New York, my wife was so appalled by his emaciated appearance she immediately asked him if he had AIDS. He denied it and his subsequent improvement in appearance and increase in weight during his visit seemed to confirm his claim. When he left to fly back to New York, he looked the picture of health.

Some time later he wrote to his mother that he had been diagnosed as suffering AIDS, and had volunteered for a trial program using the latest anti-AIDS drugs. His distressed parent immediately begged him to abandon this desperate attempt as she had no faith in the medical opinion of the time; and to come home to her where she felt at least she could ensure her son enjoyed good food and healthy living. Her son initially refused her plea but eventually returned home when the drug trial failed and he appeared to be dying.

To my untutored eye, the young man who stepped off the plane from New York looked much as he did on his previous arrival. So his mother and I hoped the same result would be obtained in this visit that occurred in the previous visit. However, during his prior visit Byron had spent his time visiting old friends in Brisbane, and had rested from the usual nightlife of gay young men. But on this final visit he insisted on continuing his gay life-style in Sydney, believing the erroneous medical advice that AIDS was caused by the HIV virus, not poor food and potent drugs. His health continued to fail and in a short time he died.