Yang Shoufa holds the diagnosis that said he was HIV negative. (Photo/People's Daily Online)
For 10 years, 40-year-old Yang Shoufa lived under the label of "HIV Positive" patient. Everyone – his neighbors, his family, and even himself – believed he's dying with the disease.
But 10 years have gone by, and in one medical checkup, Yang, from Central China's Henan, was told that he was HIV negative.
For the past full 10 years, Yang had been living in hell.
He was first told of his sickness back in June 2004, when a medical report came back confirming he was indeed HIV positive. The bad news inevitably shocked Yang.
"I felt like I was a prison on death row," he said.
His life turned upside down ever since, and even to this date, his life still continuous deteriorating in all aspects. And there's a little chance that he may get back what he had lost during these 10 years.
The diagnose has costed him almost everything – his lifesaving, his family, and his friends.
Yang lost his job because of his deteriorating health, to which he must take medication to control the illness. The heavy dose he took daily seriously devoured his energy. He lost his wife and his children, all of whom chose to dessert him after they learnt of his diagnose. Villagers made fun of him from a distance; children ran away as he approached.
For 10 years, Yang lived in complete loneliness.
"I did think of committing suicide," Yang said. "To live through each day was a torture. I had no idea which coming day would be my last day."
Yang did contemplate on how he came to contracted the disease. And he finally convinced that it must have been the one time he sold his blood back in the 1992s.
In 2012, Yang fell ill and was hospitalized. This time, his medical report came back saying, "HIV negative."
"This is impossible," said Yang when he was informed of the news.
In November, 2015, the Health Bureau of Zhenping county said they were to verify the DNA from Yang's blood samples taken in 2003 and 2012. Investigation shall be launched if result are not matched.