Longtime AIDS activist and crusader Hydeia Broadbent has passed away at 39. At birth, Broadbent was abandoned at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas where Patricia and Loren Broadbent adopted her as an infant. Being born HIV-positive, doctors believed that she would not live past the age of five. She defied all the odds against her to educate millions with her story. Now her legacy lives on.
In 1996 on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, a young Hydeia captivated the world when she shared her experience in living with AIDS in front of millions of viewers. Broadbent was born in 1984 with HIV, and was born addicted to crack and heroin. She was adopted at 6 weeks old, and her adoptive parents, Loren and Patricia Broadbent, found out she had HIV three years after her adoption.
Before her death, Broadbent traveled all over the globe making on-air appearances and connected with people of all different cultures to share her story of courage, and tips on how to avoid at-risk behaviors through informed decision-making.
As one of the first African-American youth to openly discuss HIV/AIDS, Broadbent has been recognized as a top influencer by EBONY, TheGrio.com, TheRoot.com, Essence, 20/20, Good Morning America and many other media outlets.
“I actually don’t remember her crying,” says Broadbent. “I remember being on the stage and spending time with [Oprah] after the show. She introduced me to her dogs and she gave me an American Girl Addy Doll. Last year when I was featured in Oprah’s Where Are They Now, the response was overwhelming. I found out I was one of the most requested updates by viewers. So many people feel like they have watched me grow up, and are just excited to know I’m doing well and still speaking out.”
“When I was really young, I didn’t understand the magnitude of what I was doing,” admits Broadbent to the Red Pump Project. “But I knew I wanted to make sure I was accepted and also for many of my friends. Talking to youth, men and women everywhere is what I believe in. You have to be an example to the audience you are trying to connect with. Sharing your story with others about how you promote abstinence and enable safe-sex practices is what will drive continued prevention and awareness of HIV/AIDS.”
“People think because I was born with HIV my story does not apply to them. Well this same disease I am living with is the same disease you can get if you don’t practice safe sex and know your HIV status and the HIV status of your sexual partner. I ask people to use my testimony as a warning of what you don’t want to go through.”
Hydeia not only affected the everyday people, but her story also touched many celebrities, including Magic Johnson.
She was only tiny 7-year-old grade-schooler when she met one of the world’s greatest basketball players.
When they first met, she cried, Magic Johnson reached his giant right hand out and placed it on her
shoulder. Neither knew what their futures held, but they had one thing in common bigger than both of them: They were HIV-positive.
“I want people to know,” Hydeia said, sniffling, “that we’re just normal people.”
“Aww, you don’t have to cry,” Johnson replied, “because we are normal people. OK? We are.”
That scene was captured as part of a Nickelodeon AIDS special 20 years ago to inform America’s youth that the disease could affect anyone.
On a 2022 night in Los Angeles, Johnson again hugged Hydeia, his 6-foot-9 frame dwarfing her diminutive 4-foot-8 stature. Both were on hand for the screening in Los Angeles of “The Announcement,” an ESPN documentary about his coming forward with HIV. Hydeia’s tearful plea as a child is replayed in the documentary.
Throughout her lifetime, Hydeia appeared on the covers of countless magazines, received honors in the next decade from a litany of AIDS and African-American organizations for her awareness activism, became pals with Janet Jackson and was offered modeling contracts and speaking gigs across the country and overseas, too. Conrad Bullard, who ran a foundation named for the child, crowed to Poz Magazine in 1997 that she was “the most popular little AIDS activist in the country.”
She will be missed. Rest in peace Hydeia.
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