The Chicago Tribune; Saturday, December 6, 1997
Tresa Baldas, Tribune Staff Writer.

But when Tony, a 33-year-old HIV-positive patient, raised a small plastic bag of pills into the air, explained that he took 23 of them a day, that they sometimes made him sick, and that they cost $2,100 a month, that's when the teenagers snapped to attention.

"You don't want to go through this," Tony told more than 100 Stevenson High School students Friday, leaving several students in tears.

As Tony, who did not give his last name, clutched his bag of medication known as the "AIDS cocktail," he delivered the safe-sex message he had come to preach: "Think really hard before you decide to trust anyone. . . . Make sure you play safe. It's all I'm going to say."

For Grace Han, 15, of Buffalo Grove, the message got across.

"I just learned never to have sex until you're really ready, and to be careful whom you have sex with," Han said after hearing Tony speak.

For Han, Tony's visit to her school marked the first time she met a person with the virus that causes AIDS.

"It's just so sad. I feel so bad for them," Han said. "I thought, 'What would I do if it happened to me?' "

That was one of the main points that speakers tried to get across Friday: that AIDS can happen to anyone.

Jim Johnson, 28, who was diagnosed HIV-positive four years ago, talked about bad choices.

Among those, he said, was trusting a partner who had cheated on him and wound up with the HIV virus, and who in turn gave it to him.

"I thought I was totally invincible. I was 24 years old," he said. "Now, four years later, here I am, speaking to a large group of people (about being HIV-positive). . . . Hopefully, you will never be up here."

One student asked Johnson if he felt any bitterness toward his ex-partner.

Johnson, who cut off ties with his partner, admitted he was angry initially, but said he eventually came to realize that he was at fault too. He said he had unprotected sex--a mistake he strongly encouraged the students not to make.

"You are the only person who can say, 'No. stop,' " Johnson told the group.

Johnson's and Tony's visit was organized by the Peer Helpers high school student group, and the Chicago-based AIDS support group BEEHIVE, (Better Existence with HIV), as part of the school's observance of AIDS Awareness Week.

During the speeches, students were allowed to ask questions. Among the most common asked of the HIV patients were: Who pays for the medication? Do your parents support you? Are you afraid of dying?

"I don't dwell on the fact that I'm going to die," said Johnson, who feels he has some control over his health. "I'm dictating to the virus that I want to live until I'm 50. That's my goal."

Copyright 1997/The Chicago Tribune. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Chicago Tribune, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
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