Rugby legend Gareth Thomas has revealed he is currently living with HIV, having kept the identification a secret for years, but says he had been forced to tell folks.
Even the 45-year-old became the primary UK sportsman to disclose he has the virus during an interview with the Sunday Mirror – before revealing in a video on his Twitter page that he was”compelled” to create the admission.
In the video he states:”I need to share my secret with you. Why? Since it’s mine to inform. Before I do not the evils threatening to inform you.
“Now although I have been made to tell you that, I opt to fight to educate.”
Talking to the Sunday Mirror, he said he’d felt”shame” over the diagnosis and was suicidal at a single point.
“I had a fear people will judge me and treat me like a leper due to a lack of understanding,” he explained.
“I was in a dark place, feeling indifferent. I thought about driving off a cliff.”
League celebrity and the former Wales rugby union came out as homosexual in 2009, becoming the first Celtics global to do so.
Describing the afternoon that he received the diagnosis, Thomas said:”I will never forget the minute I found out. I went for a routine sexual wellness evaluation.
“I’d had the evaluations every now and again and they would always come back fine. I didn’t feel ill and that I thought it all was going to be nice.
“The girl who did the test required blood as normal, then I moved to my vehicle and waited for around an hour before heading back to get my results.
“Once I went back in, I sat down on a chair next to a doctor’s bench. She informed me at a very matter-of-fact way I’d tested HIV positive.”
The rugby superstar said he instantly”broke down” and”thought I was about to perish”, adding:”I felt just like an express train was hitting on at 300mph.”
Mr Thomas now takes one pill containing four medications every day and his state is”imperceptible” – meaning it cannot be passed on.
After being diagnosed his husband Stephen, who he met, does not have HIV.
About 101,600 men and women in the united kingdom live with HIV however, there is still a lot of stigma across the illness.
When it isn’t treated HIV could progress to AIDS, when they undergo treatment, but many patients in wealthy nations do not develop AIDS.
Thomas stated:”Many people reside in fear and shame of having HIV, however I refuse to become one of these now. We need to break the stigma once and for everyone.
“I am speaking out because I wish to help other people and make a difference.”
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