Buffalo, New York
Positive since 1999

I have been positive since 1999 after a bad drug overdose. It was the first and last time I tried liquid heroin. All I remember was that I went to a Halloween rave with friends and they “coaxed” me to try it. I gave in. Between the drinking, smoking and then the shot of heroin, it was all a haze. I remember falling and a friend carrying me to the car. Then I remember being pushed out of the car at a hospital and nurses picking me up onto a gurney. That was it.

When I finally woke up, I could not move. I had a tube in my throat and a mask on my face. A nurse arrived, smiled, and stated she was going get the doctor. He came in shortly afterward and pulled the tube out. He asked how I felt and if I knew what day it was. I quietly said November 1. He smiled and asked if I wanted the bad news first or the good news. I indicated either.

The good news was that I was alive. The bad news was that I had AIDS.



The good news was that I would recover. The bad news was that I would never walk again. 



I also found out that the date was not November 1; it was December 25. Merry Christmas…wait, what?!? I went into the hospital on Halloween and today is Christmas? The doctor noted I was agitated, and explained that I had been in a drug-induced coma since Halloween when my buddies dumped me at the ER door.

The recovery process was slow and frustrating. Within a year, I was hobbling down the aisle for my Christmas blessing.



Now, 15 years later, I am walking and running. I am finishing my associate’s degree in applied sciences to become a certified medical assistant. I have a 4.0 GPA. I will be interning at a medical office and going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in applied sciences in health and fitness.

This disease knocked me for a loop, but I got up and did not surrender to it. I lost family and friends to this disease, but I am happier now, because I have a small support team to keep me going through the bad days.

I encourage everyone to smile and know that you will get through those dark days.

What adjectives best describe you?
Outgoing, Engaged

What is your greatest achievement?
Earning a college degree in medicine

What is your greatest regret?
None—I made mistakes, but I have learned from them!

What keeps you up at night?
Exhaustion

If you could change one thing about living with HIV, what would it be?
The fatigue and wasting syndrome

What is the best advice you ever received?
To keep going and to look to the end result

What drives you to do what you do?
What time I have left I want to use to my full ability.

What is your motto?
To get up after a fall and smile and keep going. Life is filled with challenges, just learn from them!

If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out?
My pup, Bleu, a miniature blue Chihuahua

If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?
I would like to be a frog. I can swim and live on land.