Still standing : an Irishwoman's story of HIV and hope / Liz Martin.

"An AIDS West book."

In the first nineteen years of her life, Anna Mahon has done more than her fair share of living. And it doesn\'t end there. Still standing is the highly courageous and true account of her life that begins in Dublin\'s inner city in 1967. The youngest of four children, she has a burning ambition to sit her Leaving Cert and become a social worker. Her life follows a very different course, however, when she falls in love with Simon and finds herself pregnant and engaged by the time she is 16. From the outset, Anna\'s relationship with Simon is a turbulent one becoming even more so when she discovers that he is a heroin addict. In clear and honest prose, she starkly portrays how his addiction hurtles them into a dark world of terror and violence. When he is diagnosed HIV positive, the relentless aggression towards her drives herself and her children to flee the family home and seek refuge in different parts of Ireland. What follows is a testimony to Anna\'s bravery and survival instincts as she deals with the discovery that she has been infected with the HIV virus and the stigma and discrimination attached to such a diagnosis, which is still prevalant today. Anna has written her story to tell what it\'s like to live with HIV, to educate people about the virus and to give hope to those recently diagnosed.