WE BAND OF HIV BROTHERS
work through. The only way I could get
somewhere to stay was to go to the Council and register as homeless which
was the most degrading experience. I had to live in a homeless person's
hostel that was horrendous.
"Chris came with me to the Council and he helped me move into the
homeless hostel but the first place they
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Holby City's star, Jeremy Sheffield, presenting the Red Cross Carers Award to Chris
put me in in Kings Cross was so disgusting you wouldn't put rats in there.
I just sat on the bed and burst into tears.
"Things slowly began to get a bit better. I managed to get DLA, which
these days is a major achievement. Chris gave me a lot of support. It
was amazing having someone to talk to and give me encouragement. I'd wake
up some days feeling so low and to have someone who cared and understood
and who just gave and gave and gave and never asked for anything in return
was incredible.
"The first six months was the worst and looking back I can't believe
how bad it was. But I did the Recently Diagnosed Course at London Lighthouse
and I'd recommend it to anyone, it was excellent. I met mothers with HIV,
heterosexual men, a teenage girl; so I didn't get the feeling that gay
men equals Aids which is what I'd been brought up with.
"My mood was so low I couldn't be bothered to shop, cook or even wash. Although Chris wasn't giving me physical care he was giving me optimism
