My Journey With HIV/AIDS: Danny West, HIV Positive Man

Danny West is a trainer, coach, and leadership consultant, has been living with HIV for the past 24 years, and remains healthy today. When he was diagnosed with HIV, he was given 18 months to live, so he decided to take long-term sickness leave and take stock of his situation. Since then, being HIV positive has been the springboard for leading the life of his dreams. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the focus of HIV was on death and dying. He has seen many friends and family members die of HIV/AIDS. His first partner with AIDS introduced him to the founder of London Lighthouse, the first centre in the UK for people with HIV which provided drop-in services, respite care, and a hospice service. Danny got involved with HIV support organizations and did HIV training. In the late 90s, Danny decided to take care of his health and took a number of years off. He's now been successfully treated on antiretroviral medications (ARVs) for five years, and he wanted to do something proactive, so he set up his own training, coaching and leadership consultancy and is now a qualified professional coach. Today, with ARVs, people are now living with HIV, so Danny wants to contribute to that culture of life. For more information, visit http://www.ryl-training-consultancy.co.uk/ and http://www.AIDSvideos.org/. This video is freely downloadable from http://www.archive.org/details/DannyWestMyJourneyWithHivaids . [Do you want to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS? Are you fluent in a language other than English? Then volunteer to translate this video into another language! Click http://AIDSvideos.org/translate.shtml to learn how you can help!!! © Copyright 2008-2011 Global Lifeworks. All rights reserved. This work is licensed to be used for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.]]

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People & Blogs

Tags:

• hiv
• positive
• aids
• danny
• west
• ryl
• training
• prevention
• education
• coaching
• hospice
• arv
• antiretroviral
• medication
• death

[xvsoothsayer]

Are there meds that he might be on that are not available in the US?

[AIDSvideos]

@xvsoothsayer: This is Eric; I'm not a doctor. Generally speaking I think that most HIV medications available in the UK will also be available in the U.S.

[debakis]

Can I ask you if you've been retested with the Elisa for the HIV after the diagnosis?

What caused you to go on the medications?

[AIDSvideos]

@debakis: This is Eric. FYI: (1) You have to get a positive test result on BOTH an ELISA and a Western Blot to get a confirmed HIV+ diagnosis in the first place. (2) In the U.S., labs that get an initial HIV+ test result on the ELISA often send the sample to a second lab to rule out the possibility of technician error before they return even the initial HIV+ result to the patient (which itself still must be confirmed by a Western Blot).

[AIDSvideos]

@debakis:(3) I don't recall the specifics of Danny's situation, nor would it be appropriate for me to release his personal medical information (beyond that which he's made public already) if I did. But generally speaking, people are put on ARVs when their CD4 count falls below a certain level and/or they develop an opportunistic infection that indicates their immune system has been damaged.

[fraserkatie]

I know Danny, and he certainly isnt afraid of who he is, in fact he is a very inspirational man who is a very charismatic , friendly, person who makes time for everyone he sees and knows, whether in coaching sessions , or if in meetings , he is also very good at helping people to understand how they can boost their confidence when people are not at their best and feel self conscious and I feel that what you have put is different to how I know Danny and it is hurtful in some way!

[AIDSvideos]

@fraserkatie: I'm confused. Are you saying that the video(s) we've put on YouTube are hurtful in some way? [They're just footage from an unscripted interview with him, all of which was posted with his prior review and approval, so it's hard to see how this would be hurting him in any way given it was done with his participation and consent.] Or are you talking about one of the other commenters on this video?

[raphas168]

Helo Danny, Thanks for posting such a wonderful topic, I am working among the youth and children,pl let me know how to work more effectively on this subject, thanks, Paul Prakash Kumar, Bangalore, India.mob no 09036063407, ppkppk16@gmail.com

[butterflyfantasy92]

You are the proof that people with HIV can live a normal lifespan. You've lived with it for 24 years and you look healthy and well!

[blkfuturesucess89]

hi im 21 and when i heard your story just WOW 24 years how wonderful that your still healthy i used to work with people with HIV for about 2 years thats awesome to hear stories like yours stay strong

[cervesaychelas]

i pray for u that they will create a cure.

[househeadericmd]

sounds like a great person to know. he gives a healthy outlook on life and living with hiv. good bless you man!

[4theroof]

You look very intellagent how did you get this deadly sickness

[Nojustnoo]

Danny, you're my Mum's best friend..Julie. We spent days around yours with Alflie the dog and your chickens. I'm Emily the youngest, but you must remember Julie, unforgettable. I hope you can get back in touch because Mum would love to hear from you! Mum's told me to put..'west is best' something about your pickles. Anyway get in touch, would be great to hear from you xx

[Atitoinnyc]

hunky