Support for Alfie as star reveals HIV fight
FORMER Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas is planning to team up with Prince Harry to raise awareness of HIV.
The rugby legend, who revealed on the weekend that he is HIV-positive, has several goals including inspiring millions to get themselves tested.
Thomas revealed he was suffering from the virus and vowed to “break the stigma” after blackmailers put him “through hell” by threatening to expose his secret.
Now, the 45-year-old, from Bridgend, has received widespread praise for his brave stance from the public and celebrities alike – and has further vowed to work tirelessly to raise awareness of the issues surrounding HIV.
Gareth said: “Like me, Prince Harry wants to break the stigma around HIV and he has already done a lot of great work.
“We are planning to work together now. To do something with him will be really powerful.”
Harry said: “Gareth, you are an absolute legend.
“In sharing your story of being HIV-positive, you are saving lives and shattering stigma, by showing you can be strong and resilient while living with HIV.”
And it yesterday emerged that Sir Elton John – who has launched a global HIV coalition with Harry – phoned Gareth to praise his bravery.
Gareth’s friend Prince William sent a message of support, saying: “Courageous as ever – legend on the pitch and legend off it.”
Gareth hopes that he and Harry can have the same impact on public awareness of the condition as the princes’ late mother Princess Diana.
She was credited with changing attitudes towards HIV and Aids in 1987 when she was pictured at the UK’s first Aids clinic, shaking hands with a man dying from the condition.
Until then, many people thought it could be contracted by touch.
Former Wales and British Lions captain Gareth said: “Quite often I look at that photo of Diana at the clinic next to those fraillooking men and then I look at a photo of myself out on my bike and it motivates me because I can see how things have changed and advanced.
“It also makes me realise how lucky I am because I see what it was like for them and I know 30 years ago that could have been me.”
Gareth and Harry, who turned 35 on Sunday, are in talks with the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust, about how and when they will work together.
It is understood they will focus on the need for more people to be tested to help Britain meet its target of eradicating new transmissions by 2030.
Harry has as carried on his mother’s groundbreaking work. He has gone public with his own wn HIV tests to raise awareness reness of how important they are.
His charity Sentebale provides healthcare and education to children n affected by poverty or HIV and Aids in Africa.
In his interview, nterview, published in the Sunday Mirror, Gareth reth said: “I’ve been living g with this [HIV] secret et for years. I had a fear peo- ple would treat me like a lepla fe fe bu con thi own Aids foundation.
Gareth said: “He’s brilliant. He rang me the other day while I was on the M4 and said, ‘Gareth, it’s Elton’. I had to pull the car over.
“We had a massively supportive chat about me speaking out and he supports my reasoning and was nothing but positive.
“He said, ‘What you’re doing is a brilliant thing. It’s really brave of you. I’ll support you all the way’.”
Gareth, who in 2009 became the world’s most prominent athlete to come out as gay, added: “Elton works tirelessly to raise awareness and I’ve been to a lot of his [charity] dinners.
“My actress friend Samantha Womack was one of the first people I told and Jonny