Nkosi Johnson, the little boy who became the world's tragic face of Aids, died worrying about how his "mommy", Gail, would cope without him. The death early on Friday of 12-year-old Nkosi, famous after telling the world about his life with Aids at a global conference on the disease in Durban in July last year, has seen a flood of condolences from leading figures. ... But Nkosi's final moments were not those of a hardened activist but of a frightened boy looking death in the face. ... "He was scared of dying and what it meant. He was very concerned about how I would cope without him. I told him that he would be watching over me." But, while she knew he would die, nothing could have prepared her for what happened at 4.45am in his room on Friday. She thought he had suffered a terrible seizure, and went to his bright blue room ready to give him pain-relieving medication. But when she saw his stiff body and could find only a weak pulse, she realised it was time to say goodbye. "I thought: 'God, maybe this is it.' I tried to close his eyes but they came open again . . . I kissed him and said: 'Go quietly.' I told him that I loved him and how proud I was of him," she recalled.
Less than an hour later, Nkosi, weighing less than 10kg, passed away peacefully on International Children's Day. He was in his bed surrounded by his favourite teddy bears.
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
[Archives: 2001 and after]
Archives before February 5, 2001
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12/19/2001: vive la france
12/19/2001: princess, redux
12/19/2001: yemen and rumsfeld
12/18/2001: you're NOT in the army now
12/18/2001: interesting donation
12/18/2001: shame on winn dixie, indeed
12/18/2001: saudi princess
12/17/2001: new resolve
12/17/2001: a victim of the attack ... yeah, right
12/17/2001: polluters ho!