Wife Sues Ex-Husband For Infecting Her With HIV in UK
The 36-year-old claims she became infected her husband had unprotected s*x outside their marriage.
She told The Sun of her shock at being diagnosed with the disease after suffering series of debilitating illnesses including pneumonia.
She said: "As soon as they told me I said ‘That b****** has given it me. I’d been faithful so there was no one else it could have been."
She believes he didn't know he had the disease until she was diagnosed, but has accused him of gross negligence over his actions, in what is believed to be a landmark legal action.
The couple had reportedly been together seven years, and wed in 2017,
but the relationship broke down over her suspicions he had been cheating
on her.
She had been trying to rekindle the relationship when she began feeling unwell last October, beginning with shingles under her eye, then a huge red rash all over her body that landed her in hospital.
Initially doctors thought she had a tropical disease, but in December she was called into hospital to receive the news that she had HIV.
She described her despair, as she had little knowledge of the advances in the treatment of HIV and Aids since the 1980s crisis.
She reportedly rang her ex as soon as she got the diagnosis, saying she was scared he would sleep with someone else and give it to them.
“I said ‘I’ve just been told I have HIV.’ He went quiet. Then he just said ‘OK’.”
She claimed that two days later he sent an accusing text that said: “I can’t believe you just told me
I’m going to die.”
The woman, who was not identified in reports, said: “He is so selfish. It was all about him even though I was in a wheelchair when I got out of hospital. I was so upset.”
He then accused her of having Aids, saying she was obsessed with cleanliness and suggesting her use of bleach to clean the house had weakened her immune system.
After that she decided to contact lawyers.
The woman who said she has since come to terms with her diagnosis as she now knows the disease is no longer considered a death sentence, says she wants to educate the public against HIV stigma.
The illness is now treatable thanks to modern medical advances meaning patients are able to live a relatively normal life.
It is also possible to live with an undetectable viral load due to drugs that enable HIV-positive people to have s*x without passing the illness on.
Under UK law, people who are HIV positive and have s*x without a condom without telling their partner about their status risk legal action over "reckless transmission".
The woman is attempting to gain compensation from her ex via the courts, after being advised against seeking a conviction because proving a criminal offence can be difficult, and could mean her s*xual history is probed.
It is not a criminal offence to have s*x while HIV-positive if the sufferer does not know they have the disease, or if they have told their partner, and took reasonable steps to avoid infecting them.
HIV transmission prosecutions are controversial around the world.
Last April, hairdresser Daryll Rowe , then 27, of Edinburgh, became the first person in the UK to be jailed for deliberately trying to infect at least 10 men with HIV.
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