Woman Who Thought HIV Was Only For Africans Caught The Virus After Having Unprotected Sex With A White Man

 

Can't believe we still have people that have such shallow mind to think HIV is based for people in a particular continent.  Rachel Dilley, 48, says she had no idea she was at risk of the condition. This is because she had never known a white person to have HIV(unbelievable!).


It was in 2004, just short of her 40th birthday, when she embarked on online dating, having split from her partner of 20 years and the father of her children the year before.

She began dating a man called Simon and said the pair seemed to click and get on well. Over the course of the summer, their relationship progressed physically but because of her age, she says she knew she wouldn't get pregnant - so didn't think about protection. But she also hadn't given a second thought to HIV.

'I didn't know anything about it - I didn't know it was even possible to catch it,' she explained.

Within a few months, the relationship between Ms Dilley and Simon was over - and shortly afterwards she began to feel unwell.
'I had swollen glands, a sore throat, a temperature and couldn't eat properly,' she recalled. 'It was like a really severe bout of the flu.'
After tests were inconclusive, it was suggested - to her surprise - she should take an HIV test.

 'I thought "why?",' she explained. 'I just didn't know anything about it - I just thought you got it in Africa. I didn't know a white person had ever got it.'
Her comments were described by Philip as 'extremely naive'. She went on to explain that a week after taking the test, she received the devastating news that she was, indeed, HIV positive.

 'I felt like I was walking into a black hole - and my first words were "am I going to die"? 'It sounds stupid now - as now I know that HIV is not a death sentence.
 'My children, who were teenagers at the time, took the news well - as did my mother when she was alive.'

But she added not everyone has been fine about her diagnosis. 'A friend's daughter didn't want me near her baby. It did upset me at the time, but it just shows that, like me, she wasn't educated on it either.'

Today, Ms Dilley takes two drugs in the morning and one in the evening and tries to keep her immune system strong. She also admitted she 'doesn't have much to do with men' - and said people of all ages need to be more aware of the risks of HIV.