P
PressRoom
Guest
Thousands of people have reshared Saidy Brown's tweet since Friday when she posted her HIV status.
Her tweet: "When I found out at 14 that I was HIV-positive, I didn't think I would live to see 18, I am turning 22 this year." has been considered hopeful with many praising her courage for speaking publicly about her own experience with the virus.
Activist Saidy, who describes herself as an HIVictor in her Twitter bio, has been speaking to the BBC about the extraordinary reaction to her post, why it took so long for her to be diagnosed and the challenges of dating for someone who is HIV-positive.
She explained that she has always her status. ''I started disclosing it when I was 18. I usually use Facebook to talk to people about HIV and Aids," she says.
"But I've been having this urgent feeling to post it on Twitter, so it wouldn't be just limited to my Facebook friends. I needed the world to get into conversations about this virus."
Saidy has also had people share their own stories with her too.
"I like sparking conversations about HIV. I don't believe in treating it like it's an unspoken subject. I want us to talk about it, because once we talk about it more, then we can de-stigmatise it.
"There are people who are naysayers, but I don't even reply. I just leave them.
"When I was younger, I was so scared of how people would perceive me.
"But now I've grown and people's opinions really don't phase me. I think emotionally I've become stronger. When I get these comments and everything, they don't really break me."
A native of Itsoseng, a small town in South Africa's North West Province Saidy Brown is the first person to ever come forward and talk openly this way about her status.
Saidy Brown found out she was HIV positive at the age of 14 when she represented her school at a youth day event.
"When I was 14, I went to a youth day event to represent my school. At the event there were people who do HIV tests, counselling and everything else.
"When we got there, they asked us if we would like to test. I was one of the people who got tested. That's how I found out.
"I was shocked, I was in denial, I couldn't believe it. I was only 14 at the time so I was like: 'How? I'm only 14... I haven't done anything. How?'
"But when I got home and told my aunt and she was the one who told me that no, I'd actually been born with it. My parents had died from Aids-related diseases, which I had never known.
"My mum passed away when I was 10, my dad when I was nine."
Her tweet: "When I found out at 14 that I was HIV-positive, I didn't think I would live to see 18, I am turning 22 this year." has been considered hopeful with many praising her courage for speaking publicly about her own experience with the virus.
Activist Saidy, who describes herself as an HIVictor in her Twitter bio, has been speaking to the BBC about the extraordinary reaction to her post, why it took so long for her to be diagnosed and the challenges of dating for someone who is HIV-positive.
She explained that she has always her status. ''I started disclosing it when I was 18. I usually use Facebook to talk to people about HIV and Aids," she says.
"But I've been having this urgent feeling to post it on Twitter, so it wouldn't be just limited to my Facebook friends. I needed the world to get into conversations about this virus."
Saidy has also had people share their own stories with her too.
"I like sparking conversations about HIV. I don't believe in treating it like it's an unspoken subject. I want us to talk about it, because once we talk about it more, then we can de-stigmatise it.
"There are people who are naysayers, but I don't even reply. I just leave them.
"When I was younger, I was so scared of how people would perceive me.
"But now I've grown and people's opinions really don't phase me. I think emotionally I've become stronger. When I get these comments and everything, they don't really break me."
A native of Itsoseng, a small town in South Africa's North West Province Saidy Brown is the first person to ever come forward and talk openly this way about her status.
Saidy Brown found out she was HIV positive at the age of 14 when she represented her school at a youth day event.
"When I was 14, I went to a youth day event to represent my school. At the event there were people who do HIV tests, counselling and everything else.
"When we got there, they asked us if we would like to test. I was one of the people who got tested. That's how I found out.
"I was shocked, I was in denial, I couldn't believe it. I was only 14 at the time so I was like: 'How? I'm only 14... I haven't done anything. How?'
"But when I got home and told my aunt and she was the one who told me that no, I'd actually been born with it. My parents had died from Aids-related diseases, which I had never known.
"My mum passed away when I was 10, my dad when I was nine."
