Motivational Tweet Shared by Woman Living With HIV Goes Viral for the Right Reasons

“When I found out at 14 that I was HIV-positive, I didn’t think I would live to see 18, I am turning 22 this year.”

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Since Saidy Brown tweeted those words on her twitter timeline and thousands of people have re-shared her hopeful message, with many praising her courage for speaking publicly about her own experience with the virus.

Activist Saidy Brown, who describes herself as an HIVictor in her Twitter bio, has opened up about the extraordinary reaction to her post, and the challenges she has been facing as someone with the disease and it is so surprising to know that she is dating someone who is HIV-positive.

READ ALSO: HIV/AIDS Activist Kecia Johnson Shares Story of How She Contracted the Virus Aged 22

Living with HIV

“I have not necessarily been discriminated against. I can say that I was discriminating against my own self, from around 14 until I was 18, because I didn’t want to talk about it. Only my family knew; no-one else. Once I reached 18 I decided to start disclosing. It’s been better and wiser.

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“Where I come from [Itsoseng, a small town in South Africa’s North West Province], I’m the first person to ever come forward and talk openly this way about my status.

“But the response and the support is there because whether it’s me or someone else, the reality is that people are living with HIV, whether we talk about it or not.”

READ ALSO: ”I want to advise more women to know their status” HIV+ Mom of Three Shares Her Ordeal