The ex-Wales rugby captain, Gareth Thomas, reveals that he has HIV

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Former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas revealed he was HIV-positive, saying he wanted to "break the stigma" surrounding the disease.

He said he wanted to show how people living with HIV are wrongly represented as "walking around with canes that are about to die".

He also spoke of "shame" and "fear" of keeping his state secret.

The former British and Irish lions are due to discuss his diagnosis Wednesday in a BBC Wales documentary.

He says that at its lowest point in 2018, he wanted to die.

The public information campaigns launched in the 1980s, warning people against AIDS, have left a legacy of misunderstanding, he said.

Advances in medicine now enable people with HIV to live long and healthy lives. With effective treatment, the virus can not be transmitted.

Aside from getting up at 6 am to take a single tablet every day and going to the hospital for blood tests every six months, this disease has little impact on the daily life of Thomas, 45 years old.

On the contrary, the project to participate in an Ironman Sunday challenge, in which he learned to swim, was for Thomas a way to demonstrate his physical and mental strength.

"When I discovered that I had to live with HIV, the first thing I thought was right now: I was going to die," he said.

"It's not like I'm blaming people for not knowing that.

"This is a subject that, because of the scenarios of the 80s, does not speak because it is the only information they have."

He added, "The overriding question that everyone asked me – the first question everyone told me when I told them I live with HIV – is" Are you all right? "

"And it's a really compassionate question to ask, but that means in the best possible way, it's a really uneducated question."

Thomas said that revealing that he was living with HIV resembled being gay in 2009 because of "fear, concealment, secrecy, ignorance of people's reaction".

"But I think when I talked about sexuality, it seemed to me that there was more empathy and understanding because you had more knowledge, because you could turn on the TV and you could see that There was a representation of LGBT on most platforms. "

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Who is Gareth Thomas? A chronology:

July 25, 1974: Born in Sarn near Bridgend

1994: Made his debut with hometown club Bridgend and continues to play for Cardiff Blues (twice), Celtic Warriors and Toulouse

1995 He made his debut in Wales and then won 100 caps, scoring 40 tries and also appearing in three British Lions Tests.

2005: Won the 2005 Heineken Cup with Toulouse and the Welsh captains for their first Grand Slam in 27 years.

2007: Wins his last cap for Wales at the World Cup.

2009: Reveals that he is gay, saying "what I choose to do when I close the door from my home has nothing to do with what I've done in rugby".

2010: Thomas changes code in rugby league.

2011: Announces his retirement, his last appearance for the Crusaders at Wrexham in July.

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CARL COURT / Getty Images

2012: His career after rugby includes Celebrity Big Brother, roles in pantomime, regular work as a rugby fan and a campaign against homophobia in the sport. Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke is involved in discussions to play him in a movie.

2014: Publishes his autobiography, Proud, which wins the sports book of the year.

2015: His life is told in a play Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage.

2018: He posts a video on Twitter after being assaulted and victim of a hate crime in Cardiff. Participated in Sport Relief, when he overcame his fear of heights with firefighters.

Thomas lives near Bridgend with her husband Stephen, 56 years old. They got married in 2016.

In the documentary, Stephen explains how the public will react to Gareth's announcement and how the couple will be treated.

"I will have to take this into account and fix the problem," he says.

"I will cross it when I come there."

Stephen, who does not have HIV, added, "I think this will teach many people what HIV is.

"I was one of the ignorant, I'm going to be honest, like so many people."

"I think it's a fantastic thing that he does.It shows that it's possible to have HIV but that you can still practice sport and Ironman, for the sake of it. ;love of God."

The documentary shows Thomas's concern and the need to consult with legal representatives after a tabloid newspaper has discovered its HIV status. This led the journalists to visit his parents.

"I needed to take my life in hand," he said.

"When you have a secret that other people know, it makes you really vulnerable to them, and I felt like I had no control over my own life."

Thomas said that he currently felt the strongest of his life.

"I've had a crappy roller coaster ride." My parents say to me, "Jesus Christ. What's next with you? ".

"I had the emotional challenge of revealing my sexuality and confronting the sporting stereotype associated with it.

"And then I've felt" I'm dealing with that ", which has so many similarities."

In the film, he entrusts to Shane Williams, another former international of Wales, become actress and amateur triathlete Samantha Womack.

In an interview with BBC Wales, he explained: "I try to take control of my life, but I do not try to break the stigma and educate for myself. Is really selfish.

"I try to educate and end the stigma for everyone, which even includes me in this role.

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What is HIV?

• HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus – Immunodeficiency is the weakening of the immune system by the virus.
• It has been transmitted between humans for many decades but was only identified in the early 1980s.
• If left untreated, HIV infection progresses in stages leading to advanced HIV or AIDS.
• HIV can be transmitted by blood or sperm, but do not transmitted by spitting, sneezing, coughing, kissing or general social contact.
• There is now strong evidence that indicates that people on effective HIV treatment can not spread the virus.
• There are an estimated 94,100 people living with HIV in the United Kingdom, including about 2,200 in Wales; 4,484 people were diagnosed in 2018, a decrease of 28% since 2015.
• Due to the combination of combination prevention – condom use, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), expanded treatment for HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy – the number of diagnoses among homosexual and bisexual men has decreased by 39% since 2015
• sources: Terrence Higgins Trust and Public Health in England

• An HIV drug "should be on the NHS"
• The HIV-positive man who prevented thousands of people from contracting the virus

Ian Green, General Manager of Terrence Higgins Trust, said, "I am very proud to call Gareth Thomas a friend. Gareth is proof that an HIV diagnosis should not stop you from doing what you want, either.

"I hope that by speaking publicly about it, Gareth will transform attitudes towards HIV that are too often blocked in the 1980s.

"We have made tremendous medical progress in the fight against HIV, which means that people living with HIV, such as Gareth, are now living in good health.

"We can also argue without a doubt that those who benefit from effective treatment against HIV can not spread the virus." This is exactly the kind of information that Gareth wants to spread to combat the stigma that always surrounds this virus. "

Gareth Thomas: HIV and Me will air on BBC One Wales on Wednesday, September 18 at 9:00 pm Paris time