-On April 8, 1990, Ryan White died of AIDS at Riley Hospital. During his short life, White’s experiences helped people across the world learn more about the disease. His struggle to go to school in Howard County gained him support from celebrities and made him famous.
“People hated and feared the disease which had taken over his body,” said minister Ray Probasco at White’s funeral at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. “They hated the disease just as Ryan did.”
White contracted AIDS from blood factor transfused to stop chronic bleeding. White was a hemophiliac. After he was diagnosed in 1984, Western Middle School in Russiaville refused to allow him to return. Many parents fought against White’s return, fearing their children might have been able to contract the disease.
“I can’t blame them for being scared because it was new to everybody at the time,” said White in a CBS interview.
“I didn’t know there would ever be a situation like this,” said White’s mother, Jeanne White-Ginder. “I never thought about going to school. I just wanted him to live.”
White’s struggle to go to school was documented by national media and White was befriended by celebrities like Greg Louganis, Michael Jackson and Elton John, who was with the White family during White’s final days, acting as a secretary for the family.
White said despite the attention from celebrities, the battle to attend school dominated the family’s lives through 1985 and 1986.
“We had all these medical experts, the CDC and all these famous doctors testifying that he was not contagious. But, local doctors testified that they wouldn’t let their kids go to school with Ryan and they wouldn’t treat Ryan if he’d been a patient of theirs.”
White was allowed to return to school after a fight in court, but after enduring name calling, harassment and a shot fired at their house, the family moved to Cicero, where White was embraced by classmates who had been pre-educated about his condition.
The family bought their house in Cicero with money from “THe Ryan White Story”, a made-for-TV movie on ABC.
When White died, his funeral was attended by Barbara Bush, Elton John, Phil Donahue, and other famous people who had gotten to know White and his family. His legacy is partly the disappearing ignorance about AIDS, research that has allowed more people to live longer with HIV and the memory of a strong and smart young man who fought with savvy and fortitude.
“He could be a pistol,” said White-Ginder. “A lot of times he was a pistol.”