Gareth Thomas insists scaling a mountain is the perfect metaphor for tackling HIV stigma as he set off on the Three Peaks challenge for his Tackle HIV campaign.
Thomas will be joined on the Three Peaks by some well-known celebrity supporters, partners from the Terrence Higgins Trust and ViiV Healthcare. as well as Tackle HIV advocates, some of whom are living with HIV.
The team will be walking the highest mountains in Wales, England, and Scotland to demonstrate that living with HIV need not be a barrier, and to celebrate how far science and medicine have come in the last few decades.
Thomas said: “The stigma is very much rooted in the narrative that was created in the 80s, that if you share a glass with someone who has HIV it can be transmitted, or that somebody with HIV is going to be lying in a hospital bed.
“I and so many people are living proof that this is not the reality. We must keep continuing to do these things so those people who are still living in the 80s, because they’ve not heard anything else since, are hopefully going to stumble across an article they learn something from.”
In late 2019, Thomas announced to the world that he was HIV positive and chose to do so whilst competing in a 140-mile Ironman triathlon.
Now, over three years later, Thomas is leading a team, accompanied by rugby legend Shane Williams, writer and actor Nathanial Hall and TV presenter Melinda Messenger, on his mission.
The challenge begins in Thomas’ native Wales and for the 47-year-old Snowdon was the perfect starting point.
“For me, this is an amazing experience,” he said.
“To be able to walk up Wales’ highest peak, in a country I’m so proud to come from, while being authentic and being with people who want to be there, it’s one of those national anthem movements.
“The real passion moments in a game of rugby are when you’re standing there and singing your national anthem with three and a half million people - those are the moments you can’t replicate.
“Being with people who want to live and breathe this with me, I think will definitely be a moment that, when I’m old and grey, I will look back upon and feel immense pride that I did it with those people in that moment, for these reasons.”
Former Wales wing Williams is a long-standing ally of the Tackle HIV campaign and says he will always seek to help his former teammate regardless of the physical demands.
“This cause is obviously very close to Gareth’s heart,” said Williams.
“We’re mates and always will be and I’ve always said if I can help the campaign in any way I’ll be there.
“I’ll continue to be involved because he wants to get rid of that stigma and what comes with it.
“If I can help him then I don’t mind climbing up Snowdon or helping him in an Ironman challenge or whatever else he is going to do next.
“I’m in that mid-life crisis age I call it now where doing the crazy physical things are part and parcel.
“It’s great to be climbing Snowdon with so many great people and to see the passion Gareth has for the campaign.”
Helping Thomas climb new heights are partners from Terrence Higgins Trust and ViiV Healthcare who are challenging the stigma surrounding HIV through public education to normalise HIV testing.
Richard Angell, CEO of Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “We are scaling mountains, quite literally, in our efforts to end stigma.
“The Three Peaks is important because we have big mountains to climb to end new cases of HIV in England, Wales, and Scotland.
“Each has a slightly different epidemic so there’s different challenges and different stigma.
“This is about people living with HIV reaching their potential and this walk shows what can be achieved.”
Stephen Rea from ViiV Healthcare added: “The Tackle campaign demonstrates the power of moving as a team.
“Our guiding principle is to leave no person with HIV behind. Gareth shows what it takes to be a supreme human being in all forms and most impressively commits to facing profound issues such as stigma and discrimination in a positive way and it’s a privilege to be able to support it.”
Tackle HIV is a campaign led by Gareth Thomas in partnership with ViiV Healthcare and Terrence Higgins Trust and aims to tackle the stigma and misunderstanding around HIV. For more information visit www.tacklehiv.org and follow @tacklehiv
