A stroke at 14

there are a few thing that can stop you in your tracks and really make you think about life, think about those close to you, and think about what you are thankful for.... sometimes its when a minibus nearly hits you, or when you narrowly miss a nasty confrontation with a snake, or when the bus you're travelling on suddenly has a fan belt snap and a tyre burst all in the same day, causing frantic wobbles all over the road before reaching a safe stop...... but none more than meeting a young boy of 14 whose life has completley changed from a stroke! 14 i say, he's only 14.

He arrived at work late in the afternoon, and as i met him and started taking the first of his details, i quickly realised his sympoms where far more familiar than i wanted them to be. i know it can happen, but i wasn't prepared for what i was seeing. hundreds of strokes i have seen, hundreds. but never 14. Why? He is HIV positive. He is the last born of 7 children, both parents infectected, and 6 of the children also infected.... the eldest boy is the only one negative. How? the unfaithfullness obviously happened before the 6 children that followed.

ARRRGGHHHHH!

Heartbreaking, infuriating, overwhelming, and completely unnecassary suffering.