Chip Chick
Kokomo, Indiana. Ryan White lived in Kokomo, Indiana along with his family, and he was born with a very rare disease called hemophilia A.
Hemophilia A is inherited, and it prevents someone’s blood from properly clotting.
Ryan needed to get a blood transfusion to help with his disease in December of 1984, and he, unfortunately, was diagnosed with AIDS after he received the transfusion.
Ryan was just 13-years-old when he was diagnosed with AIDS, and doctors told his parents that he only had 6 months left to live.
Ryan became one of the very first children to ever be diagnosed with AIDS, and back then, so very little was known about it.
“When Ryan White tried to return to school, he fought AIDS-related discrimination in his Indiana community,” a website created in his memory reads.
“Along with his mother Jeanne White Ginder, Ryan White rallied for his right to attend school – gaining national attention – and became the face of public education about his disease.”
People said extremely awful things to Ryan after they learned of his diagnosis. He was accused of being gay, and he was accused of having done terrible things to have come down with AIDS.
Instagram; pictured above is a photo of Ryan White posted by RiseUpToHIV
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