AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Human immunodeficiency virus ranks high in both Georgia and Richmond County. Many health experts say that’s because people are either not aware of their HIV status or they do not disclose it, which is against the law.
One man reached out to NewsChannel 6 and said the lack of disclosure turned into his nightmare.
What would you do if you met someone and found out, months into the relationship, that they were HIV positive?
William Tyrone Harris said that is his story.
He wants to share how a small packet, plus a card can dramatically change someone’s life.
“I’m thinking like, damn, like how did I slip up?”
When William Tyrone Harris heard those three letters, HIV, he was not expecting it with the woman he was having sex with, unprotected.
“I just saw my whole life flash in front of me,” he said, noting they had sexual relations at least three times without protection.
Harris told NewsChannel 6 he met his ex-girlfriend, who declined to be part of this story, last June through one of her relatives. Ironically, he said he shared his HIV status during their getting to know you talk because they met right after he took his test.
He recalled, “You waiting for them to also be like, well I’m HIV negative too. She skirted around the issue and was like ‘would you like something else to drink?'”
Harris told us he found out his girlfriend had been HIV positive for the past nine years as he sat with her in a doctor’s appointment. That girl denies it. But he filed a report with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office anyway.