“DO NOT REVIVE - AIDS” was the suicide note left by grammar school teacher John Hutchinson in August 1986. John's friends told the inquest he hadn’t seemed himself days before his death. John perhaps foreseeing his recent HIV test result being positive, without ever learning the outcome of his test.

We also look at two young men who took their own lives merely for ‘suspecting’ or ‘fearing’ they had HIV/AIDS. The coroner giving his verdict alluded to the then-recent 1988 AIDS campaigns and the fear and stigma they whipped up as not being helpful. With both young men testing negative for HIV post-mortem, we learn they had nothing more than minor, common ailments.

All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:

XTRA Tea Blog - "DO NOT REVIVE - AIDS"

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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE

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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS.

• British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers