When Gareth Thomas took the brave decision to reveal he has HIV, it especially meant a lot to 21-year-old Mercy Shibemba.
She was born with the virus - but did not find out about until she was a teenager and for a long time was too scared to tell people about it.
“Growing up with HIV is typically isolating, and felt even more so in Wales where there are less than 20 people in the whole country that share your experience," she recalled.
Mercy, who married in June, finally gained the confidence to go public with her diagnosis aged 18.
“When you are told, it’s like this is something you can’t talk about. I had to learn to live a double life but in adolescence all you want is to fit in and be part of society," she added.
“It’s hard to do that when you’re trying to manoeuvre a huge secret and I did not have the language or skills to do that.”
Mercy campaigned anonymously with the Children’s HIV Association until winning a Diana Award in spring 2017.
At that point, aged 18, she had moved away from home in Cardiff to university and felt confident enough to go public in a bid to “normalise” the virus that still carries so much stigma.
She added: “HIV stigma often conveys the message that people living with HIV aren’t worthy of love or acceptance.
"For me, realising that the most important aspect of HIV was remembering that ‘H’ stands for human. It always reminds me that even in the face of stigma, it is a necessity to embrace and love myself."
And Mercy said that the stigma around HIV is being broken down. And she added that Gareth Thomas' decision to speak out will make a world of difference.
She met the former Wales rugby captain while he was filming the BBC documentary HIV and Me , which aired earlier this week.
“It’s so important that someone with the profile that Gareth has is able to show society what it really looks like to live with HIV,” she said.
“Gareth taking this step means so much for people living with HIV and the support he has had is exciting to see in the fight to tackle stigma. “However, like Gareth has shared, living with HIV can be isolating and difficult and so it’s so important that people are educated about it in order to reduce stigma.”
She is now a commissioner on the independent HIV Commission launched this year by the Terrence Higgins Trust and NAT (National AIDS Trust),to find ways to end new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 and co-chairs the Sophia Forum which advocates for women living with HIV.
Mercy, who graduated with an English Literature degree from Leicester University this summer, has spoken about HIV and her experience at international conferences and events across the world, given TEDex talks, taken to twitter to counter ignorance and misinformation, and served as chair of the Children’s HIV Association youth committee.
Thomas, who came out as gay in 2009, is thought to be the first UK sportsman to go public about living with the virus and has revealed that he was driven to suicidal thoughts as a result of his diagnosis.
The Terrence Higgins Trust said the day after the ex-captain of Wales and the British and Irish Lions announced his diagnosis was the charity's busiest since launching their HIV self-test kits.
Earlier this week, Thomas said: "My message is about inspiring others to have the courage to speak out and not be afraid and to help educate people."
