Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - June 22, 2003
Michael Schmidt
Rock superstar Bono of the band U2 has cited the young HIV-positive man as his "inspiration" in his international campaign to fight the virus in Africa.
Addressing the 56th World Newspaper Congress in Dublin, Ireland, as special guest speaker, Bono told delegates how moved he was after hearing about Ndou's dilemma. Bono held his audience spellbound as he told how Ndou was on an Aids drugs programme but his friend was not.
Ndou faced an impossible choice:
He could continue to take the drugs and watch his friend die;
He could give her the drugs and die himself; or
They could share the drugs and both die slowly.
This week Ndou admitted that when he first met Bono, he had no idea who the star in the wraparound shades was. "I picked up the name; it was familiar, but I'm not really into pop," recalled the 29-year-old - who has gone from being an Aids victim at death's door to a healthy and dynamic antiretroviral drugs campaigner.
When Bono, accompanied by US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, visited the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in May last year, Ndou said he found the rock star to be "down to earth and accommodating. He gave each and everyone an opportunity to speak."
When asked what he thought of Bono singing his praises , Ndou said he was glad the voices of African Aids sufferers were being heard so funding for antiretrovirals could flow.
Ndou said he contracted the virus "probably through sex; I was involved with risky behaviour, I didn't take protections."
He was born in Diepkloof, Soweto, and matriculated as one of the top students from the local Bopasantla Senior Secondary School before going on to complete a diploma in business management in 1997. His future looked bright - but he could not find a job and fell into depression.
"I didn't do much and I didn't care about much," he said. He was so disillusioned that when he tested positive for HIV in August 2001, his reaction was initially one of resignation. "It was a same-day test. I think for me it was pretty easy because I was a little prepared for the inevitable. It was something I was expecting. I think I did a pretty good job of dealing with it," he said with a shrug.
But soon he realised that other people he cared for were also HIV-positive and he resolved that "it was not just about me. It was a matter of being a pillar of support."
Ndou took to his new role with gusto - but it was only when he fell really ill for the first time that his life turned around. He was booked in to Baragwanath with a critically low CD4 count of only 35. "The worst was when I couldn't eat because of the nausea. I lost a lot of weight."
After being discharged from hospital, Ndou continued to visit the clinic as an outpatient - and caught the eye of Karen James, HIVSA's programme manager, because he was the only man who attended the NGO's support groups for Aids sufferers.
"He has quite a magnetic personality and used to say amazing things, such as: 'being HIV-positive changed my life for the better; it's actually given me a sense of purpose,' " recalled James. "That's a huge thing to say."
Three months after his discharge, he became one of the lucky ones to be put on the antiretroviral "triple-cocktail" by the clinic. Today his CD4 count is 275 and his friend is doing well.
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