Ryan White’s Mom Appears on Daytime Talk Show

It has been 25 years since Ryan White died of AIDS after he received contaminated blood used to treat his hemophilia. His mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, was recently on the “Katie” show and talked to Katie Couric to reflect on Ryan’s life and what she has doing since his death.

When Ryan was first diagnosed with AIDS, he was only given 3-6 months to live. There were other plans for Ryan because he ended up living 5 1/2 years after he was diagnosed. What Ryan, his mom Jeanne, and their team were able to do in that 5 1/2 years did so much to change the way people’s attitude towards hemophiliacs and HIV/AIDS. Ryan and his family bore so much public ridicule and hate. People were misinformed and had the preconception that HIV/AIDS was spread through casual contact. This ignorance also led to hateful actions taken to ban Ryan from attending school, or to the local public swimming pool. An interesting thing happened when the stories started making headlines. Well-known celebrities like Elton John and Micheal Jackson came alongside him. He appeared on the Phil Donahue show numerous times and was given a platform to speak his truth. He was even a recipient of  a kiss and a friendship bracelet from his childhood-crush, actress Alyssa Milano. He also got the attention of President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.  When celebrities came by his side, Ryan was uncomfortable with the public spotlight but stated to his mom, “For the first time, mom, I don’t feel like we are fighting this disease alone, but we got other people fighting with us.”

When reflecting on the 25 years since Ryan’s death, Jeanne stated, “Everybody told me it’d get easier. It doesn’t get easier, but you learn to live with it because you have to, not because you want to.” Jeanne remains an involved HIV/AIDS activist  today. When asked about why she continues to remain involved, Jeanne said, “There were so many people that contributed so much to this disease, not just Ryan. Yes, his name was on the bill, but so many people that are no longer here. And so many of my friends said, ‘Please do this for us.’ So not only do I think I continue to fight for Ryan, I continue to fight for all of the people that I have lost and loved.”

The Ryan White CARE Act (now the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program) was first passed in Congress in August of 1990 to improve the quality and necessary medial care to those under-served individual living with HIV/AIDS. The legislation has been reauthorized five times.

Video credit: The Kate Show

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