AIDS Activist Jason Robertson Dies at 23

AP-Yahoo ^

[KantianBurke]

GRANITE CITY, Ill. - Jason Robertson, whose battle to attend school as a boy with AIDS (news - web sites) in the 1980s helped other children with the virus overcome its stigma, has died. He was 23.

Robertson died this past Thursday in his mother's home in Granite City.

"Until the end, he was more concerned for our feelings than for himself," said Tammie Robertson. "He told me, 'Mom, I'm sorry I made you cry so many times and that I was such a burden.' ... But he was never a burden."

Robertson was diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS when he was 5 years old. He contracted the virus through blood products used to treat his hemophilia.

At his mother's suggestion, the Granite City School District designated a special classroom in a trailer to shield him from controversy.

But he was lonely without contact with other children, so she asked the district to let him attend regular classes. The district refused, siding with parents who feared, contrary to medical fact, that their children could become infected through casual contact.

A federal judge ordered the district in 1988 to admit the child to regular class.

Tammie Robertson said on the first day of classes, her son had to walk past angry parents shouting "Back to the trailer!"

"Jason forgave them, and I forgive them," she said. "They didn't know any better. It was the early days of AIDS."

When Robertson was 8, his family moved to South Roxana, Ill. There, he once again faced placard-waving demonstrators on his first day of school.

"He was a tough little fella. He showed a lot of courage," said the school's then principal, Dorothy Stickels.

Robertson's struggle made him a symbol of the fight against AIDS discrimination. But to his family, he was a boy who dreamed of living a normal life, who loved baseball, comic book superheroes and wrestling.

Robertson became close friends with Ryan White, an Indiana boy with AIDS whose legal struggle to attend a grade school in his state became a national story in 1985.

When White died in 1990, Robertson "ran off and locked himself in his room and cried," his mother said. "To him, it was like losing his big brother."

With money from a suit filed against the companies that supplied the tainted blood products that made him sick, Robertson bought a car and house of his own.

As the drugs that kept full-blown AIDS at bay began to aggravate his hemophilia, Robertson stopped taking medication.

"He wanted to live at least a couple of years without pain," his mother said.

[KantianBurke]

Poor fellow. Such a tough life through no fault of his own. At least he was provided for by a loving family and awarded some monetary relief.

[ambrose]

there should be a special place in hell reserved for the AIDS-infected scum who knowingly donated tainted blood.

[Swede Girl]

:o(

[prairiebreeze]

Jason's mother is very forgiving of the neighbors who shouted at them when he was so young. That takes a lot of compassion and an extremely strong person.

Rest in peace Jason.

Prairie

[glock rocks]

...and as for the tainted arkansas prison blood sold to the canuks by you know who? ...

[CobaltBlue]

That is so sad. I used to have a friend with hemophilia, but lost touch with him before AIDS. Have often wondered about him. Hemophilia is a hard one to bear, because you have it from birth, so you're in pain from the beginning, no respite, but he did get relief from Factor VIII shots, which used to be made from pooled blood plasma. The perfect place to get HIV, as drug users were the biggest source. I sold plasma a few times when I was in college, boring, painful and debilitating, far easier to just get a job.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Back when he contracted it, people hardly knew what AIDS was.

[austinTparty]

Very very sad. Also a model of Christian kindness and forgiveness, both he and his mother.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I sold plasma a few times when I was in college, boring, painful and debilitating, far easier to just get a job.

Hmmm, you must have a good job. :)

[KantianBurke]

Even after reading about the Demorat hatefest from last night, I still have enough faith in humanity that such creatures were of a very small number. Most likely blood donors donated without knowing that they were infected.

[AdamSelene235]

He tested HIV positive in 1985 before AZT treatment had been discredited as dangerous and ineffective.

I'd like to know the cause of death. Hemophilliacs often die of hemophillia not AIDS. This was the case with Ryan White despite media hype to the contrary.

[ErnBatavia]

I found out at a high skool reunion that two classmates had died from AIDS in the years since the previous get-together; one contracted it the "regular" way, but the other was a hemophiliac.

[Roughneck]

This is only one (heroic) victim of the homo ATTACK on this country. Round these homosexual perverted disese-spreaders and killers of children up and quarantine them!

[justshutupandtakeit]

Another death to credit the homos with. How many have there been?

[justshutupandtakeit]

Now some of the lunatics are urging the homos to lie and donate.

[jsbankston]

Tammie Robertson said on the first day of classes, her son had to walk past angry parents shouting "Back to the trailer!"

Sounds like the people yelling 'Back to the trainer!" at Jason must have lived in trailers.

[Trust but Verify]

I'd like to know the cause of death. Hemophilliacs often die of hemophillia not AIDS.

Why on Earth would this be important to you?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

May God bless and comfort his family.

[Trust but Verify]

And where would you send the people who taunted, tortured and made a young boy's life hell?

[Mark17]

...and as for the tainted arkansas prison blood sold to the canuks by you know who? ...

Bill Clinton, but, unfortunately, I doubt we will ever see justice.