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Taken at
the 2000 California AIDS Ride 7 |
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Thank you Kristen!
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Kristen is a 24 year survivor of
HIV/AIDS
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> Back to Friends
of Da Pirate's < |
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Hi
wow I don't even know what to say to
u that u have left me speechless
I admire your honesty and feel completely
bad for u not because you are sick But
because u have had to grow so fast and
learn how hard life is all at once KEEP
UP the great job in life trying to help
the kids and others I wanted to
ask u what kind of person would u be
if u didn't have this? what do u think
that u would have done in your life
other then help, talk, teach and love
the people that u do help? please stay
healthy and good luck with everything
TWAINA
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Brentwood, California-2005
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I
met Kristen Lee in 1999 through a mutual friend.
This friend knew that I had AIDS and asked if
I'd be willing to talk to a student of hers
who also had AIDS. She said she was 19 and
 entering
college. From the moment I met Kristen, I felt
such love and admiration for her! Kristen was
infected just hours after birth from a tainted
blood transfusion in 1980. She has lived her
entire young life with this dreadful disease.
However, she has been such an inspiration and
Hero to me and many, many others. She has incredible
courage. She has such a wonderful outlook on
her life and has not let HIV/AIDS slow her down.
I was fortunate enough to be there when she
addressed her former high school, disclosing
her status openly at her school for the first
time. She then went on to address the California
AIDS Ride 7 assembly. I truly admire this young
woman and her commitment to life and helping
others! She is now 24 years old and has her
own film coming out soon! I am 'privileged'
to know you Kristen and hope that you will continue
to inspire others as you have me!
Kristen's full
story in APLA's Positive Living, August 2000
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"There is something about the proximity of death
that helps us discern the important things in
life..."
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By Susan Yudt from teenwire.com
To
most college students, a cocktail is
something you drink at a swanky party.
To 20-year-old Kristen Lee, it's a lifesaving
group of pills she has to take every
day.
Just after she was born, Kristen received
a blood transfusion that was infected
with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Two decades later, she stands in front
of a group of high school students and
shares her story. Kristen looks and
feels healthy most of the time, but
she has to take up to 30 pills a day
— a combination of medicines called
a "cocktail" — in order to stay healthy.
A few years ago, the fact that Kristen
could live to be 20 years old would
have been considered miraculous. Most
people thought that having AIDS was
a death sentence. "When my parents told
me the news, that I had what Magic Johnson
had, I was shocked," she says. "I didn't
know much about AIDS. The only thing
I knew was that I could die from it.
I asked myself, 'Why me?'"
I came to the realization that in a
way, I had been given something special.
But advances in medicine have made it
possible for people with HIV and AIDS
to live 10 years, 20 years — even longer.
Kristen says, "I came to the realization
that in a way, I had been given something
special. There was something I needed
to do with this knowledge, and it wasn't
to keep it a secret. I knew that I didn't
have to feel embarrassed or ashamed
of having this virus."
Kristen is part of a growing population
of teenagers living with HIV and AIDS
— with an emphasis on "living." Like
many teens in her position, Kristen
doesn't consider herself a victim. Instead,
she views herself as an activist, giving
support and sharing information with
other teens who have HIV, and talking
about prevention with those who don't. |
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The
most beautiful people we have know are
those who have known defeat, known suffering,
known struggle, known loss, and have
found their way out of the depths. These
people have an appreciation, a sensitivity,
and an understanding of life that fills
them with compassion, gentleness, and
a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people
do not just happen.
- Elizabeth
Kubler Ross
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"Compassion is our cure."
~Bob Bowers
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Copyright
©2000-2008 www.onetoughpirate.com One Tough
Pirate Productions Madison, Wisconsin All rights reserved.
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