NAMES IN THE NEWS : AIDS Patient Gets Mickey Award
INDIANAPOLIS — AIDS patient Ryan White has received a Mickey award from the Mickey Mouse Club.
The 14-inch, gold-colored statuette, which is awarded to “children who make a difference,” was mailed to the 18-year-old because he was too sick to travel to Florida to receive it, said his mother, Jeanne White.
Ryan had been scheduled to be on the “Mickey Mouse Club Show” in November and be inducted into the Mickey Mouse Club Hall of Fame.
Ryan, a hemophiliac who contracted AIDS from a transfusion, received wide attention in 1985 when his family sued a school near Kokomo for not allowing him to attend. A judge ruled that Ryan should be allowed to attend class because AIDS cannot be spread through casual contact.
Since then, Ryan and his family have moved to Cicero, a town of about 3,200, where they were welcomed by the school district. For the last six months, Ryan has been suffering from numerous ailments, including a protein deficiency, his mother said.
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