tHe InterView
She walked in with a smile and like she was on top of the world. For years she had kept it together and no one would have thought of what she was about to reveal. I felt honoured and really lucky to hear her story and to be able to share it. Stella Santiago had a story and she was ready to tell. As she sat in front of me with a smile so radiant that it lit the whole room, I thanked her again for willing to speak with me. I was not yet the BBC reporter I wanted to be but I promised that I would tell her story as if it was one of my BBC assignments.
I listened attentively as she began to tell her story.
“I am Stella Santiago and I am 21 years old. I never thought I would turn 21 and for the better part of my life really wished I didn’t live to be 21. I had so much going on in my life and no one to talk to. I was certain that people wouldn’t understand, that they would judge me and that I would be rejected.
At the age of 10, I was admitted to the hospital after a car accident in which I lost my mother. All I remember was being pulled out of the car by a complete stranger. He saved my life and got a few cuts in the process. As I laid at the hospital; I could only think of how lucky I was to have survived. I spent two weeks at the hospital and went back home to recover. Two weeks after being released from the hospital I walked in again for a check-up. As my dad and I walked in I saw the man that had saved my life. He looked so worried. The doctor asked my dad and me to join them in her office. After hearing the news I had no reaction. The doctor continued to speak to my dad and I heard her say, 'she may be too young to understand so she will need your help and full support'.
My dad had done a great job helping me ease into my new lifestyle and accepting my new changes. At the age of 14 though, my real struggle began. I was going through puberty, mixed emotions and the new lifestyle was cramping my style. I refused to go anywhere during the night because I had to take my pills at a specific time every day. The side effects of the meds were also taking a toll on me. They made me feel like a zombie. I ran away from boys and avoided making friends because I knew I was a Time Bomb. I was going to die, I just didn’t know when. I would watch people at the hospital going in for dialysis or chemotherapy. Some of them knew how long they had left (I would envy them). I wished I knew how long I had to live because living in the unknown was scary.”
The rest of the interview was just a session of tears and tissues. I wanted to entitle this blog Time Bomb but I thought I would do some play on words just to get you guys thinking and curious. If you have not yet figured out what this blog is about to let me explain. The 1st of December, tHe InterView and Stella’s time bomb have one thing in common, they all refer to HIV/AIDS. The man who had saved her was HIV positive and knowing the risks he chose to save Stella's life. Had he not taken her out of the car she would have died in the flames. "I am very grateful that he saved my life. I wouldn't want to burn alive," said Stella with a smile.
1 December is World AIDS day, if you take the capitalised letters of the title of this blog they spell HIV and Stella’s time bomb is that she is HIV positive. According to Stats SA (2020), the estimated overall HIV prevalence rate is approximately 13,0% among the South African populace. The complete number of individuals living with HIV (PLWHIV) is assessed at roughly 7,8 million out of 57,78 million in 2020. For grown-ups matured 15–49 years, an expected 18,7% of the populace is HIV positive.
There are so many people living with HIV and many of them live in secret. I was speaking to a friend a few weeks ago and I asked him what he would do if he found out a friend or family member was living with HIV in secret. His first response was the world has changed and people are too educated so there is no reason to hide. Is that really true? This is what I read in a recent study conducted in Europe “Although HIV can be well managed with an easy treatment, it is kept hidden for fear of rejection or discrimination.” People are still scared of being rejected and discriminated.
According to Health Talk, a man thought of committing suicide to avoid revealing his status. Another said, "I'm used to keeping secrets. I do that all the time… It's a private matter and I view it like that" (Health Talk, 2019). Another study by Dr Constance Mackworth-Young, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, showed that women in Zambia keep their status a secret in order to resist stigma and to separate their identity from their status.
"It's not easy to live a secret life and to lie to people every day but we have to so we don't suffer the consequences of revealing our status. I would sit in classes at school and whenever HIV/AIDS was the topic of the lesson I would feel uncomfortable, anxious and a little guilty," said Stella.
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