Only known HIV cured patient hopes for more

Ray Brown, the only known man to have been cured of HIV is set to speak at the SA Immunology Conference, in Cape Town today, in support of research for the cure.​ He celebrated his 10th HIV-free birthday this year.

Initially known as the ‘Berlin patient’ after where he was treated, he said, “I don’t want to be the only one cured of HIV, it is a lonely place.”

In trying to eliminate HIV in his body, he underwent life-threatening treatments for leukemia. The treatments, he says, are too risky to test on other people with HIV, but demonstrate that there is indeed a possible cure.

“Nobody wants to go through what I went through, when I had a 50% chance of not surviving the bone-marrow transplants, but I am cured of leukemia and HIV!”

Brown, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1995, took antiretrovirals on February 7th, 2007, for the last time, saying that he did not want the drugs to interfere with donor cells he needed for the treatment of leukemia.

A donor with HIV-resistant blood cells made it possible for him to undergo stem cell transplants in 2007 and 2008.

After his first transplant, the HIV virus disappeared after three months, just the his doctor had planned to happen.

He was back at work with his immunity up, by June of 2007. His leukemia however recurred, begging the need for another transplant in 2008.

During recovery, his sight was temporarily impaired, and he could neither walk nor drive.

“I started mumbling and the doctors thought I may have leukemia in my brain. They decided to do a brain biopsy and that’s when they found out I had neither leukemia nor HIV.”

He lives in Palm Springs California, with his partner, and walks dogs for a living.

“Nobel scientist, Dr David Baltimore said: ‘In medical science nothing is impossible’,” said Brown.