Gareth Thomas stifles HIV stigma to overcome Pen y Fan Challenge

By Will Castle

Gareth Thomas overcame ‘driving rain and 30mph headwinds’ in the dark of the night to complete the Pen y Fan challenge, proving once and for all that HIV is no limit to your physical capabilities.

Scaling up and down the highest peak in South Wales ten times - a feat equivalent to climbing Mount Everest - Thomas completed the challenge in 17 hours and 20 minutes, finishing his 10th descent at 5am on Friday morning.

All was done for the Tackle HIV cause, a public awareness and education initiative founded by the Welsh rugby icon in partnership with ViiV Healthcare and the Terrence Higgins Trust that aims to tackle misunderstanding and stigma related to HIV.

“For so many people, what today will show is that HIV is a virus that I live with, and it doesn't restrict me,” he said. “If it doesn't restrict me physically, if it doesn't restrict me mentally in any way, then it doesn't impact on my life.

“Yet so many other people who are stigmatised or have the lack of understanding and the misinformation feel that it would impact me in some way.

“I constantly have to keep doing things and keep being physical to show that this virus doesn't restrict what I'm capable of doing.

“If you can go up and down Pen y Fan 10 times, then there's no greater message and there’s no greater example of somebody physically being able to not be restricted by a virus, so why should that stigma and disinformation still exist?”

Having taken his body to hell and back, Thomas posted a video to Instagram on Friday morning detailing just how punishing the challenge was - while also citing a certain motivating factor that kept him going.

“It was brutal conditions, driving rain and we had a headwind of about 30-35mph,” he added. “I was soaked to the skin from the first one to the last one.

“But I just want to say thank you to everyone for the lovely messages, whether it be messages on here [Instagram] or on the mountain in particular. Some lovely people on the mountain were wishing us good luck and giving us high fives, so I really want to thank you for that.

“The one thing I learned about going up and down Pen y Fan 10 times in driving rain from the first one to the 10th one, is that nothing - apart from your skin - is bloody waterproof.”

For the majority of the 10 legs up and down Pen y Fan, Thomas was accompanied by his invaluable Tackle HIV team, who have been by his side throughout the Tackle HIV Bus Tour.

Embarking on a journey up and down to the country in the hope of altering public perceptions of HIV, the Tackle HIV team are on a three-stop tour of universities, starting off in Manchester before travelling to Cardiff and Durham.

As someone who also lives with HIV, campaign advocate Becky Mitchell has hailed the importance of allyship after joining Thomas on the hike.

“It's being around people that are in the same situation as you,” Mitchell said.

“I've got really lovely and supportive family and friends, but the people that are living with HIV, it's that solidarity that's really important to me.”

“Allyship is a key part of Tackle HIV and the HIV response,” ViiV Healthcare Head of Government Affairs and Global Public Health Helen McDowell added.

“It's so critical that we have people who stand up and support people who are living with HIV who may not be able to use their voices.

“That's a big goal of the campaign as well, to garner and harness that energy that comes from allies and ask more people to stand up for their peers and for people who are impacted by HIV globally.”

Tackle HIV is a campaign led by Gareth Thomas in partnership with ViiV Healthcare and Terrence Higgins Trust and aims to tackle the stigma and misunderstanding around HIV. For more information visit tacklehiv.org and follow @tacklehiv