A young South African man and a Twitter user identified as Lihle (@JuniorLihle2), has taken to the social networking platform and bravely revealed that he has been living with HIV for 19 years.

Lihle, who made the shocking revelation about his status in a Twitter thread on January 24, titled his thread: “The story of my life. Been HIV (positive) for 19 years. Here is how I found out.”

According to the young man, when he was five, he started wondering why he was taking medication every day. His dad couldn’t immediately give him an answer.

He later asked Lihle, “Have you ever heard of HIV?” Lihle responded, “Yes, you die when you have it.” He asked his mother the same question when he was a little older.

Lihle further explained that his status remained a secret in the family. In fact, only he and his parents knew about it.

However, he said he felt safe to let everyone know about his status now that he has finished high school.

Narrating further, he wrote;
“Luckily my mom she’s the nurse . She then set me down and told me I’m HIV positive and she tried to explain that it’s not the end of the world ,but I was far with away with my thoughts. Did not hear a word that time .

“Time went by. It was a secret for the three of us in the family. No one knew even now. Since now that i have finished my high school and that i understand it better, I feel safe to let everyone know about my status. HIV doesn’t define who you are.”