Positive Life NSW

Positive Life Media Project: Living with HIV in 2009

The NSW World AIDS Day Project and Positive Life NSW have been working with people with HIV to help them share their stories of living with HIV. Speakers were recruited, trained and supported to give them confidence in dealing with the media. A number of personal stories of living with HIV appeared in the mainstream press and broadcast media as part of the World AIDS Day 2009 activities. Here, five people share their experiences of living with HIV.

Mia

HIV positive for more than 14 years, Mia Dawson knows that as a heterosexual woman she doesn't fit the stereotype.

"Usually," she says, "People think an HIV positive woman is either a drug user or a sex worker."

Mia is neither. Now in her late 40s, she is taking a break from a corporate career to write a doctoral thesis. At the time of diagnosis, she decided then and there it would not interfere with her getting on with her life. "I haven't let it set me back or use it as an excuse for not doing things."

To read more of Mia's story click here.

Blake

Working for a trade union and having HIV, Blake is someone who sees life from both sides of the street. Part of his job is ensuring that his members are treated fairly at work and are not discriminated against.

"I would like to see some workplace guidelines for employers to manage employees with HIV. It would be good if we could get some programs into the workplace which would overcome the stigma, dispel the myths and accommodate the HIV-positive person's need."

"HIV is an up and down thing and your energy levels fluctuate. Sometimes you are not OK to work at full energy all day every day, and sometimes you are. I am back at work full-time but it was good having the flexibility to go part time when I needed it."

To read more of Blake's story click here.

Freddy

Once a month, Freddy goes to speak to students at suburban Sydney schools about his experience living with HIV. He has the speech pretty much down pat; his story about being HIV positive and the changes it has brought to his life. Freddy says the talks seem to go down well which initially surprised him as he thought he would have troubling reaching across the divide between himself and the students.

Freddy has been HIV positive for four years. The fact that he contracted HIV only a short time ago is a source of some anxiety for a man with a generally pretty positive outlook.

"Suddenly things were happening that I didn't understand and it was difficult to come out the other side. I had to try to get back on my feet and get back to work." 

To read more of Freddy's story click here.

Gary

Gary Taylor says the time has come for a rethink on how we talk about HIV. He was diagnosed with HIV in 2007 and is pretty sure that in the early stages of the diagnosis he was "engineered" out of his job because of it. A mixture of fear and ignorance was the driver.

His experience shows that more than 20 years after HIV/AIDS became part of the landscape in Australia; people with HIV still suffer discrimination in varying forms.

"The new reality is that with the new HIV drug treatments available you will survive... I will probably die of old age before I die of HIV."

To read more of Gary's story click here.

David

When he was diagnosed in 1984 with HIV, David Polson was told he couldn't expect to live more than two years. He was determined that if they were saying two years, he would get three. 

"I tried to remain positive about it even though there were times when you felt helpless. But I have never let the moments last..."

David survived and as new drugs became available he used his positive personality to get through the dreadful side effects that came as doctors experimented to find the cocktail of drugs that were right for him. David has had to give up work and lives on a disability support pension but he is keen to get working on a new project. He is writing a book about his experiences, full he says of positive messages and is an active member of the Positive Speakers Bureau.

To read more of David's story click here.