4/16/08

Another AIDS Casualty

Dr. Ramon Torres was a hero on the front lines against the epidemic for over a decade. It was when the war began to be won that he got lost.


"It was a frigid morning last December, and the disheveled man standing before Judge James Gibbons had made his way to the second floor of 100 Centre Street in a thin nylon windbreaker, ill-fitting designer jeans, and a pair of torn jackboots—something out of an old S&M catalogue—which he had accessorized with a wide leather cuff snapped on his wrist. At first he was trembling, as if from the cold. Then the trembling subsided, and his eyelids fell. Dr. Ramon A. “Gabriel” Torres, a near-legendary doctor in the fight against AIDS, had fallen asleep on his feet."

Read the rest of the article here. It's a tragic story of heroism, the lure of meth to gay men and people with HIV, and the aftermath of the worst years of the epidemic. Kudos to Lifelube for the heads up.

1 comment:

XL said...

The part where he talks about using meth to celebrate better HIV drug treatments rang true but saddened me. So many of my friends have turned to drugs to escape or find happiness and all its done is brought them more pain.