Bob
Bowers
a.k.a. Da Pirate is a
youth
HIV/AIDS educator
providing prevention
through
education in the
United States.
Bob
has been living with
HIV/AIDS
for 26 years and has
made it his
life-mission to
educate youth as
well as adults about
the disease. Bob is
very outspoken about
his diagnosis and
his life
experiences. To broaden
his message of hope and
compassion, he founded
HIVictorious, Inc. in
2005. As an
HIV
positive speaker,
Bob knows first hand
the importance of
putting a face to
the disease in hopes
of reducing AIDS
stigma. He is far
from the
'stereotypical'
image of a person
with AIDS, thus
having a profound
and lasting impact
on his audiences.
He
speaks to middle
schools, high
schools, colleges,
universities, jails
and various
community-based organizations.
Mr. Bowers
is also a leading
and well respected
advocate and
AIDS
activist
based in
Madison, Wisconsin.
Bob
is living
proof that there is
nothing impossible in
this world if you apply
yourself physically,
spiritually and emotionally.
Bob uses his
life experiences
as an
activist and
advocate to
address broader
social issues such
as racism and
homophobia that
continue to drive the AIDS
epidemic. In 2006,
Bob created the
youth HIV/AIDS
awareness poster campaign, "What if it Were
You?" It is
his mission to
tackle this very
stigma while
maintaining every day
awareness of
HIV/AIDS in our
schools and
communities. Please
take some time to
visit the amazing
AIDS awareness
posters that the
high school students
have created.
Bob
has a can-do
approach and
believes in unity in
the fight against
HIV/AIDS.
Appreciating that,
with the political
and collective will, we
can and
will end the scourge
of AIDS on our
planet.
Mr. Bowers
is a champion for hope
and survival despite
some of the difficult
circumstances that we
ALL face in life.
I would like to say thank you
Bob for speaking at my school and not being one of those boring school
speakers that tells us all
bull **** about aids. You give your story and told us the true stuff about aids. I know you opened my eyes again on why
I wanted to become a doctor. so thank you Bob. Hopefully I will see you at the walk man.
Thank you for coming to
my school. I thought
that you were an
excellent speaker with a
lot to say. Something
that surprised me about
you was your carefree
attitude about life and
your philosophy about
living life to its
fullest! I thought it
was great and would
appreciate it if you
would come back to speak
with us.
~ Chris W.
Your
presentation in my health class today was great!
~ Marina
I
just want to say thank you for being such an amazing
inspiration to so many people, including myself. You are
an amazing human being and this world is extremely
blessed for you to be a part of it. Thank you.
I
enjoyed Bob's
presentation very much
because of his friendly
manner, persuasive style
and interesting stories
about how he has dealt
with this disease.
Bob
inspired me because he
was very brave about
dealing with the issue
and showed me that if
you truly believe in
yourself and are willing
to commit to a plan,
then you can accomplish
almost anything.
You not only
supplied us
with valuable
information,
you supplied
us with inspiration
and I am so
very happy to
know that there
are
positive people
such as yourself
that are spreading
such important
messages in
this world.
Not since reading
The Diary of
Anne Frank as
a young girl
has one person's
life story touched
such a heartstrings
in me and inspired
me to enjoy
life to it's
fullest. I'll
be sure and
come back and
visit the web
page often so
I can stay updated
on the life
of
Da Pirate.
Take care and
bless you!
I'm glad to see that
you are so positive with everything! You are a great inspiration to all that
have gotten the chance to know you. Live life, embrace it, and love it no matter
what. Be strong, and keep your spirit free of worry and doubt. I have faith you
will be ok in all outcomes of your doctor visits!! Take care, and know that many
are thinking of you and keeping you in their thoughts and prayers!!
~ Jamie
I have nothing but respect for
Bob Bowers. I feel
honored to have met this great man in person and hear him tell his testimony. I
have never encountered such a down-to-earth presenter that had the ability to
grasp and hold his audience's attention. This man is truly gifted and anything I
can do to help insure that he and others like himself, afflicted with HIV/AIDS
have the resources available to continue to encourage research and education in
HIV and AIDS awareness. God Bless you,
Bob you are a true inspiration.
He's
tattooed from neck to ankle and silver hoops dangle
from pierced ears.
Photographs in his East Side Madison apartment show him clutching women by their
curves or straddling a Harley-Davidson, bear-brown eyes crinkled in a grin.
Bowers looks like a pirate who eats small children, as one buddy, a Los Angeles
police officer, once put it.
Beefy and heterosexual, he defies stereotypes of a man infected for 21 years
with human immunodeficiency virus, much less a sensitive and passionate advocate
for HIV and AIDS education.
Bowers, 41, has pared his life down to those two essentials: Staying healthy and
reaching out.
ACT II AIDS ride organizers invited Bowers to speak
at today's opening ceremony as well as at the closing ceremony on Aug. 7.
"I'm the Mother Teresa of HIV," Bowers said in his raspy voice. "I'm spreading
the word but not making any money.";
Bowers is part of a pandemic that has infected 38 million people and killed more
than 20 million people worldwide. Nearly 1 million Americans are infected with
HIV.
In Wisconsin, more than 8,400 people have contracted HIV -- 5,500 of them
developed AIDS -- since 1982.
At a recent speaking engagement, summer campers at Jefferson Middle School first
notice
Bowers' tattoos and muscles. But it's his sensitivity and blunt delivery
that get his point across.
Over the scraping of chairs and murmuring, an
AIDS Network staff person gives
his AIDS/HIV tutorial.
But once Bowers starts talking -- covering topics most adults talk around -- the
teens stop fidgeting and even shush each other.
"I got
HIV
from using a needle one time. One time," he tells them, brown eyes
full of tears as he holds up his index finger. He points next to his pelvis. "I
was thinking with Mr. Twinkie instead of my brain."
For 40 minutes, he talks about monogamy, virginity, peer pressure and
condoms,
using terms not often heard in school counselors' offices.
"Using condoms means you are having safer sex, not safe sex," Bowers says. "A
condom can break. ... Hey, man, you can get stuff that makes
AIDS
look pretty."
He warns girls that boys will say anything to convince them to have sex without
a condom, mentioning lines older women have probably heard but that tender girls
might gobble up.
"Does it hurt?" one boy asks about AIDS. The kids also question him about drugs,
death, myths and anal sex. They want to know how people reacted to his
HIV. He
answers them all.
"There are no stupid questions," he says repeatedly.
In 1990, he got his first one, an eagle, just because he wanted one. Subsequent
tattoos have more meaning.
"Courage" inside a heart on his arm marks his 15th year of survival. His 17th
year is represented by the Japanese symbol for "warrior" on his lower arm. A
mako shark on his left arm pays homage to one of his 40
friends who have had
AIDS and died.
"The next (tattoo) is going to ... be a
phoenix," Bowers said. "It symbolizes
... my willingness to never give up and the beauty of life."
Bowers contracted the virus in 1983 when he shared a needle to shoot up crystal
methamphetamine, a pure form of speed, with a girlfriend and another couple in a
Hollywood hotel. He was 19.
"I (injected drugs) one time due to peer pressure and experimentation," he said.
"I couldn't believe that was all it took."
Swollen glands and flu symptoms sent him to a clinic a year later. Doctors told
Bowers, then a clean-cut body builder, he had AIDS-related complex -- now called
HIV. He was among the first 100 clients at the AIDS Project Los Angeles. A year
after his HIV diagnosis, he developed
AIDS.
"I went back two or three times and got re-tested," he said. "I didn't look the
part and I didn't feel the part. ... I never imagined in my wildest dreams I was
dying of something."
Initially he thought it was the end of a life that had already seen a lot of
suffering.
"I don't think people realize the magnitude about the length of survival and all
the hills and valleys I've travailed to get here,"
Bowers said.
He asked questions, participated in surveys and got involved with
HIV activist
organizations. He learned he didn't have to live the rest of his life alone.
No woman has ever said she didn't want to be with him because of his status, but
he admits it's a complication.
"It's like having a third person in a relationship. ... I'm always afraid I
would possibly infect that person, and there's a part of me that feels tainted
or dirty," Bowers said.
Living for connections
In Wisconsin, where nearly 60 percent of AIDS cases stem from two men having
sex, Bowers puts a new face on
advocacy, AIDS Network caseworker
Mary Vasquez said.
"HIV in the U.S. is primarily a disease of homosexual men," said longtime friend
Howard Jacobs, who contracted the virus as a teen in New York having sex with a
man. "Bob has the ability to
bust that stereotype. It's a very, very powerful thing."
Bowers puts that and his positive energy to good use.
"Over the years, AIDS groups (on the
West Coast) have become corporate giants, a very cold machine, so to speak,
where there's locked doors, security guards," he said. "AIDS Network has been a
lifesaver and when I speak for them I say how grateful I am to them. They are
compassionate to their commitment and although they're well-established, it's
still very grassroots."
Bowers spends Tuesdays talking to small groups of inmates at the Rock County
Jail with AIDS Network staff. His heterosexuality helps alleviate discomfort
among the men when it comes to
discussing HIV, he said. Women tend to open up
more quickly and ask questions.
Living so close to death has made him more spiritual, more inclined to forge
real connections with people.
"When I really talk real with somebody, that's when I know I'm glad to be
alive," he said.
Bowers still cries over stories people tell him. One juvenile offender told of
an uncle who died on the porch to which his family relegated him after he
contracted the virus.
"Dying on your porch," he said. "I can't believe people still do that."
Bowers' efforts extend into
cyberspace via his Web site, www.onetoughpirate.com. When he's not feeling well, it's the people who
reach out to him that help him stay positive.
"Bob is a champion and a voice for the underdog,"
Jacobs said. "He's not afraid
to tell what his life is like and what he needs to survive. Madison is lucky
because he can relate that to legislators."
"I love it here," he said. "It reminds me a lot of Portland (Ore., near where he
grew up). It's not as wild and crazy as Los Angeles. I can become involved more
and still take care of myself."
Struggling to survive
A big part of Bowers' story are the drugs helping him live. They're also the
worst part of survival.
He lists medications like he's talking about pop stars. He's familiar with them
all.
In 1989 he began taking
AZT. The resulting stomach pain curled him into a ball.
Then came protease inhibitors and combination therapy or drug "cocktails," which
is like being on chemotherapy.
The film shows him fighting bouts of vomiting which left him weak and moaning on
the shoulder of his petite former wife, Shawn.
"I don't want to puke anymore," he said in the film. "I'd rather die than keep
taking this (stuff)."
His body no longer makes its own testosterone and his thyroid doesn't work, so
he takes drugs to replace their functions. One
HIV drug elevates his
cholesterol, so he takes another to control it. One drug damaged his heart.
Another put him in a wheelchair for months with nerve damage.
One HIV drug, which he still takes, can give him diarrhea without warning.
Over time, his virus has become resistant to most drugs. "Until last year, I had
no treatment options left," Bowers said. "I was doing non-traditional
combinations on a wing and a prayer -- sort of the
anything-is-better-than-nothing therapy."
For some reason, it's working. His virus is at an undetectable level in blood
samples.
He takes about 30 drugs a day in two doses. He hurries them down in two or three
swallows, punctuated by a gulp of water. He injects testosterone into his thigh
once a week.
He'll continue this combination until his virus learns to fight it. Then he'll
try the new drugs on the market.
"I'm trying to get as much life out of this drug as I can," he said.
His t-cell count has been as low as 106 -- below 200 is full-blown AIDS. It's
now 540, so his current status is "AIDS asymptomatic." He'll always have AIDS,
but he's free of
AIDS-related symptoms.
Through it all, Bowers has been his own advocate, having doctors change his
cocktail until he's taking a minimal number of drugs with the least side
effects.
"I'm not OK with just being alive," he said. "I want more."
Death When asked about death, Bowers first talks about suicide, not death from
AIDS-related illness.
Almost half of Bowers' 40 or so friends who have died with
AIDS committed some
form of suicide -- either giving up on medications or taking action to end their
life.
"My greatest accomplishment is survival in general," he said. "I'm committed.
I'm not going to take the easy way out."
His longevity struck him on his 35th birthday, the age at which his mother died
of breast cancer when he was 9.
He had been sure he'd die before turning 30. "That was prior to AZT, so 35 just
was not going to happen," he said. "Thirty-five was just, like, wow. It took
things to a deeper level spirituality."
Survival has meant 20 years of medications and illness, of watching new
acquaintances react to his HIV status, of friends dying, and of people greeting
him by asking "How are you feeling?"
But mostly, his life's a blessing.
"That's why my speaking is so emotional," Bowers said. "I'm out there way beyond
my time. I've seen miracle after miracle after miracle. Too many to count. ...
And I've survived."
