Compilation Special: The People Who Stayed

Crowdfunder Link: RIO CALLING Fundraising LinkThis is a special compilation episode featuring highlights from Series 1 and 2 of HIV: The Morning After, released ahead of Series 3 in June 2026.What do you do when you were quietly certain you were going to die, and then you didn't? This episode is about the long aftermath of survival.It covers what grief becomes when it stops being a storm and turns into ordinary weather: going to so many funerals you stop going. It covers the particular invisibility of being a young Black gay man in HIV services that hadn't imagined you existed. A GP treating dying patients while privately compartmentalising his own diagnosis. A decade spent keeping life deliberately small - no plans, no ambitions, nothing too far ahead - and the slow, confusing work of learning to want things again when the assumption of early death turned out to be wrong.And everywhere, just beneath the surface, the people who were months too early for the drugs that would have saved them.ResourcesTerrence Higgins Trust - HIV information, support and campaigning www.tht.org.ukNAM aidsmap - Clear, evidence-based information about HIV www.aidsmap.comPositively UK - Peer support for people living with HIV in the UK www.positivelyuk.orgNational AIDS Trust - Policy and advocacy www.nat.org.ukSamaritans - Free, confidential support if you're struggling Call: 116 123 | www.samaritans.orgLinksListen to the full episodes:Gus Cairns - Series 1, Episode 9Marc Thompson - Series 1, Episode 10Peter Willis - Series 1, Episode 8Martin Fenerty - Series 2, Episode 4Music by Paul Leonidou: www.unstoppablemonsters.comSubscribe and listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTubeMentioned in this episode:RIO CALLING! Crowd-funderWe're taking over the feed for 'Rio Calling': six daily despatches from AIDS 2026, the world's biggest HIV conference. Each day Dan Glass and I will bring you the stories that matter most to people living with HIV and the people working to end it - straight from the conference floor in Rio. The wonderful folks at BHIVA have helped get us there, but there remains a funding gap. The rest is down to you. If you can chip in via the Crowdfunder link below, you'll be helping to put these six episodes in people's ears - and we'd be genuinely grateful. Thank you for listening, and for keeping this going.RIO CALLING Fundraising LinkThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp