Eve van Grafhorst
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Eve van Grafhorst (17 July 1982 – 20 November 1993) was one of the first Australian children to be infected with HIV via a blood transfusion. She became the centre of a controversy in 1985 when she was banned from her local pre-school amid fears she might infect other children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Van Grafhorst was born prematurely in 1982, and required eleven blood transfusions to save her life. One of the transfusions was contaminated, and she contracted HIV.<ref name=SMH>Template:Cite news</ref>
In February 1985, her parents enrolled her in a pre-school in Kincumber, New South Wales. When she bit another child,<ref name="TheDay" /> the state medical officer for New South Wales said van Grafhorst should be barred from daycare until she was older.<ref name="TheDay">Template:Cite news</ref> After her condition became known, parents of other preschoolers threatened to withdraw their children if she was re-enrolled, saying that the young girl posed a grave threat of infection.<ref name=SMH/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was eventually permitted to attend school, provided she wore a plastic face mask at all times.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some parents felt that was insufficient, and that the van Grafhorsts should leave town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The van Grafhorsts did leave, moving to Hastings, New Zealand, in 1986.<ref name="stuff">Template:Cite web</ref> In contrast to their Australian experience, the van Grafhorst family was welcomed in Hastings. Van Grafhorst lived a relatively normal life, and attended a local school without incident.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1992, she received a Variety Gold Heart Award. Her story had been widely reported throughout the world and, on her tenth birthday, van Grafhorst, dressed as a radiant bride, was sent a letter and autographed photograph of Diana, Princess of Wales. After van Grafhorst died at home in 1993, aged 11, her mother, Gloria, received a sympathetic letter from Diana, praising van Grafhorst for her "courage and strength".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The 1994 TV documentary All About Eve (in reference to the 1950 film), produced by Vincent Burke and directed by Monique Oomen, is a biography of van Grafhorst.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
- Schools AIDS day – AIDS awareness event focusing on van Grafhorst's battles
- Eve van Grafhorst was diagnosed with HIV and hounded out of Australia, but her legacy endures, ABC, 18-Nov-2018