The first person to be cured of HIV Timothy Ray Brown also known as ‘Berlin Patient’ has died.
According to UNAIDS, Brown succumbed to leukemia on Wednesday, September 30 in Palm Springs, California.
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The deceased had been living with a recurrence of leukaemia for several months that had entered his spine and brain.
His demise was first announced by his partner, Tim Hoeffgen who was with him when he passed away.
“It is with great sadness that I announce that Timothy passed away…this afternoon surrounded by myself and friends, after a five-month battle with leukaemia,” Hoeffgen wrote.
Brown was diagnosed with HIV in 1995 while working at a cafe in Berlin as a German-English translator.
He was later diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2007.
He was cured of HIV in 2008 after receiving a bone marrow transplant in Berlin to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Doctors at the Free University of Berlin used a stem cell transplant from a donor who had a rare genetic mutation that gave him natural resistance to HIV.
Brown was declared free of the two ailments – AML and HIV – and initially named ‘Berlin Patient’ to conceal his identity.
Two years later, Brown broke silence and even started his own foundation.
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“I am living proof that there could be a cure for AIDS. It’s very wonderful, being cured of HIV,” Brown told AFP in 2012.
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