Ryan & Eve

During the mid 1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic had risen rapidly to a peak of 150,000 per year affecting adults and children. The AIDS epidemic illness impacting the gay community, because it was first diagnosed among gay men and straight people who had unprotected sex, used needles, or blood transfusions. Two young children from two different countries were banned from their school because of their HIV diagnosis. One from Australia and Another from USA. Eve van Grafhorst, an Australian preschooler diagnosed with HIV via blood transfusion banned from her local preschool. Ryan White, an American middle schooler from Kokomo, Indiana diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion from banned from his middle school.

This is the stories of Ryan White and Eve van Grafhorst.

Ryan White

Ryan White was born on December 6, 1971 at Kokomo, Indiana to his parents Jeanne Elaine Hale and Hubert Wayne White.

When Ryan was baby, he was diagnosed with severe hemophilia (which is a blood disorder causes severe bleeding). On December 1984, White fell ill, Jeanne takes her son to the hospital. White was infected with AIDS after a blood transfusion at a time. White was given six months to live. According to Jeanne, she would throughly blame herself for her sons hemophilias diagnosis and AIDs diagnosis but White still loved her regardless. After his release from the Jeanne White received the news from the principal which was not the best news for Ryan.

Eve van Grafhorst

Eve van Grafhorst was born on July 17, 1982 to her parents Gloria Ann and John Van Grafhorst. On the day she was born, Eve was born prematurely and weighed pounds. becoming one of the first Australian children to be infected with HIV. Following three months in hospital she joined her parents and older half-sister, Dana, at their home on the New South Wales central coast.

Battle with schools

On June 30, 1985, Superintendent James O. Smith denies White admittance to Western Middle School after he was diagnosed with HIV. White was disappointed that school had banned him.

Many parents were pressured the school to ban Ryan White. They made petitions to "protect the children" and widespread from AIDS in Kokomo. On August 26, the first day of school, Ryan's sister was allowed to go to school even though she gets teased and bullied because of Ryan. Though Ryan wasn't permitted in the school building, he was allowed to listen to his classes via telephone.

White was frustrated and wanted to take action for his rights to go back to school. The White family filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the decision. The Whites initially filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. The court, however, declined to hear the case until administrative appeals had been resolved. On November 25, an Indiana Department of Education officer ruled that the school must follow the Indiana Board of Health guidelines and that White must be allowed to attend school. On February, White attended Western Middle School for eighth grade during the 1985–1986 school year. During his time he returned to Western, some parents pulled their children out of the school, few of his friends hung out with him, school required him to eat with disposable utensils, use separate bathrooms, and waived his requirement to enroll in a gym class. White and his family keeps getting threatened and he get called “faggot”. The worst part was when White saw a bullethole was fired through the Whites' living room window (no one was home at the time), the family decided to leave Kokomo. White and his family moved to Cicero, Indiana, where he began ninth grade at Hamilton Heights High School, while he was there he was greeted by the principal, most students shook his hand and they were not afraid of him and made new friends. After White victory for returning to school, White made some celebrity friends like Sir Elton John, Lukas Haas who would later portray as Ryan in the Ryan White biopic and Michael Jackson who has shown huge support for him to go back to school.

In February 1985, her parents enrolled her in a pre-school in Kincumber, New South Wales. When she bit another child, the state medical officer for New South Wales said van Grafhorst should be barred from daycare until she was older. Unlike Ryan White, parents have threatened to withdraw their children if she was re-enrolled, saying that the young girl posed a grave threat of infection. She was permitted to go to daycare but she has to wear a face mask. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough more people have threatened the school and Eves families. The van Grafhorsts moved to New Zealand in 1986. While living there, they lived a relatively normal life, and attended a local school without incident.

Final Moments

On March 29, 1990, Ryan White entered Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis with a respiratory tract infection. As his condition deteriorated, he was sedated and placed on a ventilator. He was visited by Elton John and the hospital was deluged with calls from well-wishers. Ryan White died on April 8, 1990 at hospital.

He was 18.

On November 20 1993, three years after Ryan White's death, Eve died at her home in New Zealand.

She was 11.

Families, Friends and Celebrities friends attended his funeral. In his casket, White is dressed in jeans. Elton John sang "Skyline Piegon" at his funeral.

Ryan's Legacy

After Ryan's death, Ryan white's mother Jeanne founded the national nonprofit Ryan White Foundation. The foundation worked to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS-related issues, with a focus on hemophiliacs like Ryan White, and on families caring for relatives with the disease. Michael Jackson wrote a song "Gone Too Soon" honoring his friend Ryan White.

White's bedroom was placed at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Eve's Legacy

After Eve's death, Eve's mother received a letter from Princess Diana before her 1997 ultimately death praising Eve's "courage and strength". In 1994, years after her death, a television documentary All About Eve was released.

These two young kids were always be remembered as the poster child of HIV/AIDS and how their diease barred them from their education.

Source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_van_Grafhorst

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/van-grafhorst-eve-27059

smh.com.au

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-18/remembering-eve-van-grafhorst-after-hiv-diagnosis/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ryan-White