AIDS shatters a would-be bride's dream<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ria's dream to marry Tio in July this year has
\nbeen shattered. Her fiance died, three months before the big day
\nof AIDS.<\/p>\n
Her life will never be the same, not just because Tio has gone
\nbut also because Ria herself has been infected with AIDS.<\/p>\n
When Ria took Tio to Puri Cinere Hospital in South Jakarta
\nlate in March this year. They had no idea he was HIV infected.
\nThey went to the hospital because Tio had a nasty cough, which
\nwas diagnosed as pneumonia. After a few days in the hospital
\nTio's condition had not improved and the doctor, who sensed that
\nTio had more than pneumonia, took his blood for an AIDS test.<\/p>\n
The result showed that Tio had full blown AIDS.<\/p>\n
Upon the doctor's suggestion, Ria was also tested and found
\nthat she had the virus.<\/p>\n
The doctor told the couple that the hospital was not prepared
\nto treat AIDS patients and told Ria to take Tio to Sulianto
\nSaroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Sunter, North Jakarta.
\nRia asked the hospital to let Tio stay another night as she
\nneeded time to arrange things and talk to her family. But the
\nhospital insisted on Tio being transferred right away.<\/p>\n
After about two weeks in Sulianto Saroso Hospital, Tio
\ninsisted on going home.<\/p>\n
\"It was five in the morning. Tio looked excited by the idea of
\ngoing home and asked for fried chicken. But how could I get fried
\nchicken in Sunter at five in the morning?\" the 23-year-old Ria
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Tio died at home at the age of 29 the next day.<\/p>\n
\"I did not tell him that he had it (AIDS). I was afraid that
\nhis condition would get worse if he knew. Was I wrong?\" Ria
\nasked.<\/p>\n
She said that Tio might have had some idea that he had AIDS
\nbecause long before Tio met Ria three years ago, he was a drug
\naddict.<\/p>\n
\"When he died I was very angry. I was angry with the fact that
\nhe was a drug addict. I was angry with the people who made him
\nunhappy, which caused him to run to drugs,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Not long after Tio's death, the local health agency sent
\npeople to Ria's house in Bogor. They came in a van marked with
\nthe words \"Communicable Disease Control and Sanitation\" and
\nparked right in front of her house.<\/p>\n
Five men in white uniforms then stepped into the house and
\nstarted to \"interrogate\" Ria about her sexual activities,
\nincluding the last time she had sex.<\/p>\n
They seemed relieved to find out that Ria was a \"good woman\",
\nand left.<\/p>\n
Last year, a bus full of uniformed people from the health
\nagency and other government offices went to the Bangun Sari red-
\nlight district in Surabaya to pick up just one prostitute who had
\ntested positive for AIDS.<\/p>\n
Ria is one of 20 people with HIV\/AIDS who are currently
\nclients of Yayasan Pelita Ilmu, a non-governmental organization
\naddressing the AIDS issue in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"There used to be 24 AIDS sufferers here, but four of them
\ndied last month,\" said Husein Habsyi, manager of the
\norganization's caring services.<\/p>\n
Ria realizes that AIDS is incurable and that her life might
\nnot be long.<\/p>\n
\"I have given up my ambition to be an art teacher and to be a
\ngreat artist. I don't have a long-term plan now. I do my work on
\na day-to-day basis,\" she said without much emotion.<\/p>\n
\"I have started to calculate the medical costs and those of my
\nfuneral. Me and Tio had a list of people who were supposed to be
\ninvited to our wedding. I will use the list for my funeral. I
\nalso start to think what to do with Tio's books and mine if I
\ndie. Do you think I am morbid?\" she asked.<\/p>\n
\"I am not afraid of dying. I will not feel humiliated to die
\nbecause of AIDS. To me, this is just one of many ways to die. I
\nwas just unprepared to face the fact that Tio and me did not die
\nat the same time.\"<\/p>\n
Ria, however, is tough.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want people to take pity on me. I don't want them to
\ntreat me differentially because I have been infected by the
\nvirus,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aids-shatters-a-would-be-brides-dream-1447893297",
"image": ""
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