The first five to six years of my life were spent in and out of the hospital.

I believe in myself as I look forward to graduating from Hamilton Heights High School in 1991.

On December 17, 1984, I had surgery to remove two inches of my left lung due to pneumonia. After two hours of surgery the doctors told my mother I had AIDS.

I came face to face with death at thirteen years old.

I received thousands of letters of support from all around the world, all because I wanted to go to school.

The school I was going to said they had no guidelines for a person with AIDS.

The desire to move into a bigger house, to avoid living AIDS daily, and a dream to be accepted by a community and school, became possible and a reality with a movie about my life, The Ryan White Story.