The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

A walk of hope

Buried deep within Rick Wadlow's body is a silent killer.

Despite suffering from intense mental and physical pain, Wadlow has not let the disease within his blood stop him from enjoying his time with his family.

Wadlow, Vice-President of the Southern Illinois Regional Effort for AIDS, was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS several years ago. On Saturday, he was one of more than three hundred participants in the fifth annual Southern Illinois AIDS Walk, an event held to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Wadlow's 25-year-old daughter, Stacy, hugged him while his 6-year-old granddaughter Britney danced along the Newman Catholic Center's floors as he spoke of the disease that ended many of his closest friends lives.

"At first you have terrible emotions," Wadlow said. "It's a big roller coaster ride until you finally realize that it's not a death sentence that they've given you. Some days it's real hard to get up and do anything. Other days I'm just like you or anyone else.

"We live and carry on."

Wadlow's realization ultimately led him to join SIREA, an organization dedicated to providing services to those affected by AIDS and their families. While he believes HIV/AIDS research is severely under-funded, Wadlow said he is optimistic scientists will find a cure for the disease within his lifetime.

"Every day it seems like they get a little closer," he said.

Tim Bowers, a Murphysboro native participating in his fourth AIDS Walk, was infected with HIV the year he graduated from SIUC in the early 1980s. Only 21 at the time, Bowers was unaware of his status for several years.

"Many of those who have contracted AIDS did so pursuing love and closeness with others," Bowers said. "That's something we all want, but it can just take one mistake, and you can find yourself with HIV."

After losing close friends and co-workers to the disease, Bowers' life was prolonged with the help of improved medical treatments. He considers himself one of the lucky ones.

"I'm pretty outspoken about the fact that I have HIV," Bowers said. "I don't try to hide the fact. It's a major factor in my life."

After participating in the AIDS Walk for five years, Wadlow has come to realize the importance of student support in raising awareness of such issues. He said the entire Southern Illinois community has shown great support for the annual walk of hope.

"They have so much enthusiasm and so much compassion," Wadlow said. "Students are a key factor in SIREA's success."

However, many of the event's participants have encountered ignorance and bigotry from some local residents during past AIDS Walks.

Steven Dusterhoft, a junior in English education from Carbondale, said he was verbally abused last year by one Southern Illinois resident for wearing an AIDS Walk shirt. According to Dusterhoft, the person said AIDS was a cure for homosexuality.

"The area is very conservative down here," Dusterhoft said. "Large amounts of people do not really want to think about the issue.

"AIDS isn't a punishment, and it isn't God telling you that you are a bad person."

Sue Browning, a certified nurses aid from Pinckneyville, participated in the event to support Wadlow and her friend, Rich, both of whom she calls her "very dear boys." Ignorance of the disease and hatred toward different sexual orientations are both problems affecting HIV/AIDS awareness, Browning said.

"People think you have to be gay to get AIDS," she said. "You do not."

Raising awareness about AIDS was a mission Wally Paynter undertook once his significant other died from the disease 15 years ago. Paynter, of Carmi, organized the first Southern Illinois AIDS Walk four years ago in an effort to educate about the disease.

"We did it to let Southern Illinois know that AIDS is here, and that it's an issue we all have to deal with," Paynter said.

According to Father Joseph Brown, a SIREA board member and director of the Black Studies Program, the issue of AIDS concerns the safety of the world's youth where is the number one killer of those aged 15 to 30, he said.

"The more adults, authority figures, and role models get involved, the more young people will pay attention to something that might kill them," he said. "If there's no one saying anything about it, it doesn't seem important.

"Whether or not we know it, we all know somebody affected by AIDS."

Looking out at the large crowd of friends, students, and families gathered behind the Newman Catholic Student Center shortly before the walk began Saturday, Brown spoke of the importance of love and understanding in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

"Don't rush through this walk," Brown told the audience. "Keep the walk going, day after day, and have the courage not only to cross the street on a Saturday morning, but to go up to someone else and say, 'I am here for your life.'"

 

 

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