Watch: Dad bikes 545 miles for gay son who died of AIDS

A new video posted by YouTube vlogger Davey Wavey tells the story of David Flanagan, who has biked over 500 miles in memory of his gay son Joshua, who passed away just hours after being diagnosed with HIV.

In a moving tribute to their son, and to raise awareness about the importance of early HIV testing and diagnosis, Joshua’s parents have opened up about the family’s ordeal, as well as David’s charity bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles as part of AIDS LifeCycle.

After feeling ill for some time, Joshua tested positive for HIV on his 27th birthday, but already had such a dangerously low serious CD4 count that he was immediately diagnosed with AIDS. After being discharged from hospital, David and his wife took their son home, where he stopped breathing and was pronounced dead just 30 hours later.

“We hope that he would be proud that people can be helped, and that we loved him so much. We wanted him to do whatever.” David told Davey Wavey.

“If you think that you might need to be tested… please go ahead and do it… and if you get tested and you are positive you can go ahead and get treatment… This should not happen again.”

Men who have sex with men are recommended to get a sexual health screening at least once a year, and once every three months if they’re having unprotected sex or sex with multiple partners. For more information visit The Terrence Higgins Trust at tht.org.uk or call 0808 802 1221.

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