 |
Joey
DiPaolo |
Joey's
Bio:
Joey was born September
5, 1979. As a baby, he was diagnosed as having ASD, a congenital
heart defect. On May 23, 1984 at the age of four, he underwent
open-heart surgery to correct the defect. During the surgery,
he was transfused with blood that was contaminated with
the HIV virus. Joey suffered several years with medical
complications until June 21, 1988, at which time he was
diagnosed as having AIDS. The doctor told the family that
Joey has one year to live and also advised the family not
to tell a living soul about his diagnosis. The family lived
in fear and silence until 1990. Joey became very ill in
February, 1990. The doctors said he would die within 48
hours. Through the grace of God and Joey's strong desire
to live, he survived. Soon after, Joey decided that he did
not want to him his "dark secret" of having AIDS
any longer. Joey went public about his disease in September,
1990. Parents in the community wanted to protest in order
to keep Joey out of school. When their efforts failed, they
decided it was time to learn about the disease called AIDS.
Joey has become a public spokesperson, sharing with people
the reality of life with AIDS. He brings his message to
students of all ages in order to educate the public about
his disease.
His life was portrayed in an HBO special called "Blood
Brothers, the Joey DiPaolo Story" which won the 1993
Cable Ace Award.
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AWARDS
RECEIVED
Michael
Hirsch Award - 1991
|
The
Massachusetts House of
Representative Citation - 1992 |
New
York Humanitarian Award - 1993 |
Kids
For Life Award - 1993 |
Car
Rosenberger
"Service Above Self" Award - 1994 |
National
Ryan White Award For
Youth Service - 1994 |
Wayne
Fischer Leadership Foundation,
Special Recognition Award - 1994 |
New
York Technical College
Gifts For Special Children Award - 1995 |
USA/NETWORKS
National
"Erase The Hate" Honor Roll -
1997 |
New
York AIDS Coalition
Vanguard Award - 1998 |
|
OTHER
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Met
personally with President Clinton - 1993 |
Walked
in the Inaugural
Parade For President Clinton - 1993 |
Private
Meetings with Senators and
Congressmen in Washington D.C.
Met with Coretta King in
Atlanta, Georgia - 1994 |
Addressed
25,000 people in
Times Square, United AIDS Action Rally -
1992 |
Adressed
91,000 people in
Washington, D.C. - 1992 |
Founder
of the Joey DiPaolo AIDS
Foundation, Inc. - 1996 |
|
U.N.
Assembly Secretary - 2001
General Kofi Annan |
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PUBLIC
APPEARANCES:
The Queen Latifah Show, Montel Williams, Larry King, Phil
Donahue, Good Morning America, Joan Rivers, Geraldo Rivera,
Maury Povich, Sally Jesse, Discovery "A Time of AIDS",
NBC "Teens At Risk", Day & Date, Eye on The
Nation, Court TV, The Dini Show (Toronto, Canada), Family
Talk CN-8 Cable, MTV and many other appearances.
WRITTEN
ABOUT IN:
Red Book 1993, Washingtonian 1991, Kidsports
1992, Ministries Today 1992, Sida ahora 1992,
Scholastic News 1992, First For Women 1992, Women's
World 1993, New Yorker 1992, Faith 'n Stuff
1994, Metal Edge 1993, Playboy 1993, Rollingstone
1994, Portraits of Life with Love - Joan Lauren, Positive
Options - Body Positive of N.Y., Living Proof -
Carolyn Jones, Be A Friend - Wiener/Best/Pizzo, Bazaar
Magazine 1995, Poz Magazine 1994, Scope Magazine
- Scholastic 1996, New York Times 1997, Teen People
Magazine 1998
INTERNATIONAL:
His story is written about in books published in Japan, Holland
and France. A documentary for the Netherlands, France,
Italy, Germany and (Other European Countries) by Evangelical
Broadcasting Organization.
OTHER AFFILIATIONS: (Past and Present)
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, LifeBeat the
Music Industry Fights AIDS, Love Heals the Alison Gertz Foundation,
Reach Out, Inc., Arthur Ashe Foundation, Kids For Life, The
Vineyard Project, Camp Heartland and others. |
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