This reporter ran into this man in a Beer Parlour drinking heavily out of frustration. He narrated his story below
MY STORY
” Some years ago I registered with a fake name in an hospital . I kept avoiding a woman each time she passed by me . Each time she tried to smile at me I would frown my face and pretended as if I didn’t see or know her. I wore my dark goggle to avoid being seen or identified by anybody while I was praying silently within me. ”Next person!”, the laboratory Phlebotomist called me and I went in. The Phlebotomist brought out a syringe , drew my blood for blood work and asked me to come back for my result three days later.
”On the day of appointment, Thursday, I went back to the hospital to know the result as advised . The Phlebotomist called my name and advised me to join the queue going for Counseling . I asked ”what type of counseling?. But you asked me to come for my result, what counseling again?”. He smiled and advised me to sit with the 20 other patients sitting on the bench . I reluctantly obeyed, expecting to see the doctor. From there we were led into a big Hall . Lo and behold I now met the woman I had been avoiding since I had been coming to the hospital face -to- face .
” The woman stood on the dais with her stethoscope dangling on her two breasts .She politely addressed us all ” Don’t be afraid , HIV does not kill again as it used to be but you have to be taking your medication as instructed. Look at me , I am a medical doctor and I have been living with HIV since 2001 and still alive. It is when one does not take his medication that it becomes full blown AIDS. So whoever tells you it’s going to kill you please educate him and tell him there are many diseases that kill faster than HIV/AIDS”. She then pointed at me and said ‘Mr. X how are you?’, I did not answer her because I was still dodging her and I did not write ‘X’ on my hospital card . I registered my name as Kadukadu K . Again, she called my name and pointed at me , and said ‘I am talking to you Mr. Kadukadu K who is now Mr. X’, I reluctantly smiled and answered her .
”That was how I now met Dr. Kayefi again after 10 months of meeting her in an hotel where she came for an Health programme. I now recollected the whole episode and knew where my story began and ended.
A QUICKIE
”It was one evening about two years ago ,when my company sent me to attend a Seminar in an hotel . Another Workshop was being held in same Hotel under the Ministry of Health. After the end of the first Workshop many interacted . As a woman was passing bye , she was being called by another woman who I believe was her colleague. The mere mention of ”D. Doctor” scattered my brain , and apart from that she possessed all the statistics I wanted in a woman —brain and beauty. I abandoned the second segment of our programme and did not leave for home that evening since I was still a bachelor .
”I called the doctor and told her how I fell in love with her, and we exchanged numbers. She smiled and told me she needed to go but I invited her into my room, Room 322. In the evening she came as promised while I made effort to have sex with her but she refused . She said since she is a Medical doctor she knew the implication of such a thing. She in all honesty and sincerity said we were both strangers to each other and did not know each other’s HIV status. I pleaded to her that I wanted to romance her and cool my ‘tension’ . With my sugar coated mouth she succumbed to my demand and undressed. We had a good romance and no sex as agreed .We went into another second round of romance again . I held her tight as usual but before you knew it I had forced myself in , and she screamed ‘Whaaaaaaaat? No, no.But Why? Why?. U made a big mistake and a big risk. I thought you are matured enough to hold on and romance only. Poor you.Damn you. What if I am HIV positive?’. She left and we were just calling each other on phone without meeting as each of us claimed we were busy at work.
”When I became sick , and stooling with rashes on my body , I was asked to do some tests including HIV. That was when I ran into her at the hospital where she works but I kept dodging her .
”After counselling us , she called me to her office and said ‘I have been seeing you for the past three weeks coming to the hospital but each time I tried to approach you, you always avoid me and our profession respects confidentiality” .
”She continued ‘I have been battling with HIV since 2001. And when we met 10 months ago I told you I was not in the mood .Infact if I wanted to have it I would have used condom’. ‘She asked how many ladies I had slept with but I kept quiet and did not answer her .I told her my fiancee is in Norway and I was planning to join her soon. She advised me to let her know my status .
”According to her , HIV no longer kill as she too had contracted it but had three lovely children who are negative. She said ‘I contracted HIV through my husband who later confessed and we got married at last for I had no choice then and didn’t want to infect others. He died about two years ago and I had been using vibrator to ease my tension since I don’t want to go into any relationship . Don’t blame me , its your fault and moreover I don’t know whether you had it before meeting me. Go and tell your fiancée and if she is still interested in you fine, but mark you I cannot marry you for I had all my three children by cesarean operation.’
As she was talking her phone rang .She rose and said she had just been called to a meeting .
This is a true life story .It happened in 2007.The man is still alive