Siama's story | 1/10 |
This is a T-shirt which I wear to encourage other people to go and get tested for HIV.
I first went for a test on January 3, 1998. I didn't have any symptoms – I was healthy and happy – but I was worried about my ex-boyfriend so I decided to get tested. I was sure that it would be negative.
I got the result a week later. Positive. It was a very big blow – I was shocked. There was no counselling. I was told that I should just wait for months or a year. Then I would die.
I didn't sleep for four days. I didn't eat, drink, shower or do anything – I was just dirty and waiting for death to come.
I couldn't really believe I was HIV positive. I thought that maybe they had mistaken my blood test for someone else's, or that the hospital machines were not working properly.
When I talked to my ex-boyfriend he told me, "there’s no problem", even though he knew that he had infected me.
