Dr. Robin Harris

In another life, she was considered a “Super Mom,” a conservative Christian and the glue that held her family together. She was living the ideal life, with a wonderful family, and the peace-of-mind that everything was great. Little did she know, her life was about to be changed forever.

On August 20, 1991, Dr. Robin Harris, associate professor of Government and Sociology, received a phone call from her then 21-year-old son, Brian O’Neal.

He called to tell her that he was HIV positive.

“The minute Brian gave me the news, I knew that I could not let him go through this alone,” Harris said. “When someone in your family has a disease, any disease, the illness affects the entire family. When the culprit is HIV, the impact can be devastating. In 1991, such a diagnosis meant death; the only question was how long before it happened.”

Even after Brian’s condition changed to “full-blown AIDS,” 18 months after his initial diagnosis, his health remained good, and for the most part he felt well. From this point forward, Harris realized that her son’s responsibilities and immaturities did not matter any more.

“All that mattered was that I memorized the shape of Brian’s ears, the sound of his voice, his smile.all those things that would one day no longer be there except in my memory.”

GC&SU held its 10th annual AIDS Awareness week last week, Feb. 13-18. The week featured a multitude of activities, including student performances, lectures, films, and free diagnostic tests, all to raise awareness of AIDS. AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, was first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By killing or damaging cells of the body’s immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body’s ability to fight infections and certain cancers.

“You can’t stereotype who has AIDS, everyone should be tested,” said Marjorie Johnson , a registered nurse from Oconee Regional Medical Center. “It’s free and harmless. Everyone should have it done.”

Because no vaccine for HIV or AIDS exists, the only way to prevent infection by the virus is to avoid behaviors that increase a risk of infection.

More than 830,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States since 1981. As many as 950,000 Americans may be infected with HIV, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection.

If AIDS Awareness Week stresses one point more than any other, it would be the fact that AIDS has no “face.” It will infect anyone, and it will kill anyone. No biases accounted for. As in the case of Harris, and her son Brian, who died on June 6, 1996, surrounded by loving family and friends.

“Losing a child is like getting the breath kicked out of you over and over again.it never goes away,” Harris said. “That’s why AIDS Awareness Week at GC&SU is so important to me,” Harris said. “There are things you can do to make sure your mother never shares a story similar to mine. Every person that dies of AIDS is someone’s child.”

Harris said those who are concerned with humanity should also be concerned with their knowledge of AIDS awareness.

“Knowledge is the power. We are all responsible for the decisions that we make. AIDS is not confined to any one ‘stereotype,’” Harris said. “I just want to give the information in hopes that I can help one child, and then it would be all worth it.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 24 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry