HIV Blogger: living positively as an idea came out of my need having been diagnosed as living with HIV at the end of March 2009, to record my journey. I have been a regular user of the internet for many years, and communication is very definitely part of what keeps me going. So, about a week after diagnosis, the first blog posts started to appear.
My diagnosis came about because a friend had told me that he had been recently diagnosed. I had promised as a New Year’s Resolution in 2009 that I would go up to the local GUM clinic for the general Sexual Health MOT by June 2009. The news that everything was clear apart from the HIV test was, to put it bluntly, quite a shock.
One friend told me, ‘it will be a rollercoaster from now on’, and he was right. HIV Blogger: living positively tells the story.
My name is Michæl McFarland Campbell, and I live in Co. Laois, having previously lived in Dublin, Gibraltar, Belfast, and Oxford, as well as my hometown of Ballymena. I was born in 1978, and diagnosed as living with HIV in March 2009.
I never thought that my blog would be noticed beyond my own friends, but it has been in a number of ways including by Healthline.com. From the blog came a Twitter account and Facebook page as well. Should you wish to contact me, please use the “Email me” button at the top of the page.
I work full-time for Ireland’s oldest First Aid charity, St John Ambulance Ireland in its National Headquarters. I also volunteer with Scouting Ireland, and have other interests, so I am kept quite busy. I have spoken in a number of schools / further education colleges about my life and am happy to work with others to do this in the future.
I am also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Member of the Chartered Management Institute, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations , the Institute of Administrative Management, and a Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
HIV Blogger | living positively 