Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White who died in 1990 from AIDS, spoke Thursday night for an event hosted by Project Posi(+)ive Empowerment, an immersive learning class at Ball State.
White-Ginder made her way to the microphone speaking in a voice almost too soft to hear in Pruis Hall.
"I'm just a mom, not a professional speaker," the Kokomo, Ind., native said. "All I ever wanted to be was a mom and when I got pregnant I just couldn't wait."
"White was born 22 and a half inches long, so skinny, but had the biggest feet so we hoped that he would be a basketball player," she laughed. "That was short lived because he was circumcised and the bleeding wouldn't stop."
Shortly after White was circumcised the doctors knew something was wrong. The bleeding did not stop even after stitches were applied. He was immediately tested and hours later the doctors informed White's mother that he suffered from severe hemophilia.
This was just one of the many milestones White would have to overcome in his short life. After being diagnosed with hemophilia, White was given drugs created from plasma of non-hemophiliacs that had not yet been approved by the FDA.
"Little did we even realize the drug that was supposed to be saving his life was actually going to be the drug that took his life," White-Ginder said.
She told the story of the discrimination White faced from the school board in his hometown after being diagnosed with AIDS. White was given three to six months to live, but outlived those expectations by five years.
Throughout the duration of his illness, White was invited to HIV/AIDS awareness events and met celebrities, such as Elton John and Michael Jackson, both of which were present at his funeral.
White-Ginder grew solemn as she reminisced about the days her son was still alive, spreading his message with a smile and always reminding his mother to keep her chin up when she started to feel discouraged about his situation.
Brad Gumbert, co-executive director of Step Up Inc., an educational and advocacy program for people who are HIV positive, spoke on the panel of last night's event.
"Even though White died in 1990, [White-Ginder] can still bring a very powerful message with the respect to the kind of stigma and discrimination that she went through," Gumbert said. "Even though we've come a long way in eradicating that stigma, it still persists today."
Senior human sexuality and interpersonal affairs major Ashley Sherrow, took the immersive learning class taught by psychology Professor George Gaither last year, and helped coordinate the event.
"Getting a national speaker to come to campus turns out to be a really difficult process," Sherrow said. "[White-Ginder] is very busy and she's always speaking all around the country, so we had to plan the entire event around her and her availability."
Although White-Ginder was a tough speaker to get ahold of because of her widespread advocacy for the HIV/AIDS, Sherrow said it was well worth the wait.
"My expectation is to stir up some feeling in people to make them want to be proactive in HIV and make them think," Sherrow said.
Sherrow and her fellow classmates from the immersive learning class interacted directly with HIV-positive patients and assisted in outreach and prevention programs in Delaware County.
"I personally gained a lot of empathy over the summer," Sherrow said. "I was one of the students who helped to run the support group and getting to spend time with the patients has changed my outlook on the disease and it's something I feel really passionate about now."
White-Ginder closed out the night by speaking about some of the good times with her son.
"Every night we both said 'thank you, God, for another day' because we didn't think we would have many more, but we had five more years together," White-Ginder said.
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