Our Patients' Stories

I’m sitting here at home recovering from a very simple day procedure yesterday and thinking about the kindness and compassion of all the staff at the hospital. I was reminded of an occasion when I was forced into your care and thought I’d relay my tale and beg your indulgence.'

"I was diagnosed with HIV in 1990 and decided to go into denial. I never expected treatments and simply carried on with life until... the brain swelling..."

"I remember waking up on September 1st, hardly able to move. Something was wrong. At that time I was at my flat in East London so I booked an emergency appointment with my GP. She sent me straight to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. I was admitted immediately. I still had no idea what was going on at this point. Tests were carried out that night including one for HIV."

In the 1990s, Mildmay were so wonderful, caring for some very special friends of mine...

Liam was a secondary school teacher when he became acutely sick and was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with HIV. He was referred to Mildmay’s Inpatient Unit and when he arrived he could not walk or move his neck. Any movement at all caused severe dizziness and he was completely bed-bound.

Rhoda is living with HIV in Western Kenya. Aged 23, she was gravely ill and weighed just 24kg...

Margaret is a Mildmay-trained Community Health Worker in Kenya. Here she talks about visiting Rachael, who is living with HIV and had just given birth to her third child, Maria.