(NiceNews.com) — When Paul Edmonds learned he had AIDS in 1988, he viewed it as a death sentence. But therapies helped him take control of the illness for more than three decades — and now he’s in full-blown remission, all thanks to a cancer diagnosis.Blood cancers are common in older HIV patients, according to the cancer center City of Hope, where Edmonds, pictured on the left with husband Arnold House, was treated for his leukemia. In 2019, he received a transplant of stem cells that had a rare genetic mutation that causes HIV resistance.As a result, he became the fifth person in the world to be cured of leukemia and reach HIV remission, a milestone recorded earlier this month in a study published by The New England Journal of Medicine. Of those five people, Edmonds, 68, is the oldest and had HIV for the longest period, 31 years.Though he initially kept his identity anonymous, Edmonds went public with his journey last year. “A big reason I want to tell my story is to bring some hope for people with HIV,” he said at the time. “And I want to remember all those we lost”
Hear Paul in his own words