Spokesperson for educating teenagers with AIDS. Learned she had AIDS when she was six years old, as her moth sent her to a camp for kids wtih HIV and AIDS. Supposedly contracted the disease from her mother, who claims she contracted it from her husband who was a drug user. The family was originally from Maine and moved to Florida for a short time, where they were not welcomed by the school community, so they moved back to Maine.
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BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Autum Aquino, who captured the hearts of Mainers after her mother disclosed that she and Autum had HIV, died Thursday. She was 23.
Aquino, who became a poster child for AIDS, died at Eastern Maine Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Aquino was 6 and newly arrived in Portland from Bangor when her mother, Terry Dannemiller, went public in 1991 that she and her daughter were infected with HIV. Dannemiller got the virus from her husband, who was a drug user.
Dannemiller wanted to dispel common misconceptions about HIV and in so doing put a public face on the virus and pushed the discussion about AIDS into the forefront.
In 1992, Aquino and her family moved to Lakeland, Fla., but it turned out that some residents there were less willing to accept her than the folks in Portland. The family moved back to Maine in January 1993. Dannemiller died in 1993, and Autum wasn't expected to live much longer.
But she moved in with an aunt and uncle in the Bangor area, graduated from high school, attended college and went on to live and work in Bangor. She spent a lot of time in recent years talking to teenagers about HIV and AIDS.
In an interview last year with WCSH-TV in Bangor, Aquino said she refused to focus on the disease and instead focused on the future. She said her mother served as a role model in teaching her to live life to the fullest.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in Seacoastonline.com on Apr. 6, 2008.
Contributor: G. Koerper (49978957)
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BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Autum Aquino, who captured the hearts of Mainers after her mother disclosed that she and Autum had HIV, died Thursday. She was 23.
Aquino, who became a poster child for AIDS, died at Eastern Maine Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Aquino was 6 and newly arrived in Portland from Bangor when her mother, Terry Dannemiller, went public in 1991 that she and her daughter were infected with HIV. Dannemiller got the virus from her husband, who was a drug user.
Dannemiller wanted to dispel common misconceptions about HIV and in so doing put a public face on the virus and pushed the discussion about AIDS into the forefront.
In 1992, Aquino and her family moved to Lakeland, Fla., but it turned out that some residents there were less willing to accept her than the folks in Portland. The family moved back to Maine in January 1993. Dannemiller died in 1993, and Autum wasn't expected to live much longer.
But she moved in with an aunt and uncle in the Bangor area, graduated from high school, attended college and went on to live and work in Bangor. She spent a lot of time in recent years talking to teenagers about HIV and AIDS.
In an interview last year with WCSH-TV in Bangor, Aquino said she refused to focus on the disease and instead focused on the future. She said her mother served as a role model in teaching her to live life to the fullest.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in Seacoastonline.com on Apr. 6, 2008.
Contributor: G. Koerper (49978957)
Spokesperson for educating teenagers with AIDS. Learned she had AIDS when she was six years old, as her moth sent her to a camp for kids wtih HIV and AIDS. Supposedly contracted the disease from her mother, who claims she contracted it from her husband who was a drug user. The family was originally from Maine and moved to Florida for a short time, where they were not welcomed by the school community, so they moved back to Maine.
- - - - - - - - - -
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Autum Aquino, who captured the hearts of Mainers after her mother disclosed that she and Autum had HIV, died Thursday. She was 23.
Aquino, who became a poster child for AIDS, died at Eastern Maine Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Aquino was 6 and newly arrived in Portland from Bangor when her mother, Terry Dannemiller, went public in 1991 that she and her daughter were infected with HIV. Dannemiller got the virus from her husband, who was a drug user.
Dannemiller wanted to dispel common misconceptions about HIV and in so doing put a public face on the virus and pushed the discussion about AIDS into the forefront.
In 1992, Aquino and her family moved to Lakeland, Fla., but it turned out that some residents there were less willing to accept her than the folks in Portland. The family moved back to Maine in January 1993. Dannemiller died in 1993, and Autum wasn't expected to live much longer.
But she moved in with an aunt and uncle in the Bangor area, graduated from high school, attended college and went on to live and work in Bangor. She spent a lot of time in recent years talking to teenagers about HIV and AIDS.
In an interview last year with WCSH-TV in Bangor, Aquino said she refused to focus on the disease and instead focused on the future. She said her mother served as a role model in teaching her to live life to the fullest.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in Seacoastonline.com on Apr. 6, 2008.
Contributor: G. Koerper (49978957)
- - - - - - - - - -
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Autum Aquino, who captured the hearts of Mainers after her mother disclosed that she and Autum had HIV, died Thursday. She was 23.
Aquino, who became a poster child for AIDS, died at Eastern Maine Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Aquino was 6 and newly arrived in Portland from Bangor when her mother, Terry Dannemiller, went public in 1991 that she and her daughter were infected with HIV. Dannemiller got the virus from her husband, who was a drug user.
Dannemiller wanted to dispel common misconceptions about HIV and in so doing put a public face on the virus and pushed the discussion about AIDS into the forefront.
In 1992, Aquino and her family moved to Lakeland, Fla., but it turned out that some residents there were less willing to accept her than the folks in Portland. The family moved back to Maine in January 1993. Dannemiller died in 1993, and Autum wasn't expected to live much longer.
But she moved in with an aunt and uncle in the Bangor area, graduated from high school, attended college and went on to live and work in Bangor. She spent a lot of time in recent years talking to teenagers about HIV and AIDS.
In an interview last year with WCSH-TV in Bangor, Aquino said she refused to focus on the disease and instead focused on the future. She said her mother served as a role model in teaching her to live life to the fullest.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in Seacoastonline.com on Apr. 6, 2008.
Contributor: G. Koerper (49978957)
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