Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 4, 1990 TAG: 9004040006
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
White, 18, remained in critical condition on a life-support system, said Dr. Martin B. Kleiman. He was unconscious and heavily sedated so that life-support systems would function more efficiently.
White, who during his five-year battle with AIDS grew from an object of scorn in his hometown of Kokomo to an international spokesman for AIDS patients, has been hospitalized at Riley Hospital for Children since Thursday.
His mother, Jeanne, and sister, Andrea, have remained at his bedside. His father, Wayne White, who is divorced from Ryan's mother, visited his son Monday.
"She's got an awful lot of faith and she believes in that boy," said Carrie Van Dyke, a spokeswoman for the family and for the Indiana Board of Health.
Hospital spokeswoman Mary Maxwell said the flood of calls "has been bedlam. We're getting calls from every small town in the United States. It hasn't let up."
Among those who left messages were actor Tony Danza and the son of comedian Milton Berle.
Van Dyke said Elton John visited the hospital overnight and Michael Jackson had called.
She said John spent five hours with the family and "just raised their spirits tremendously, that someone of his stature would care so much to drop everything."
When Jackson called, a speaker phone was brought to White's bedside in hopes the unconscious youth would hear Jackson's words.
"He told Ryan he loved him and that God is with him," Van Dyke said. "And he said, `Hang in there, buddy, and get better.' "
Jackson befriended White a couple of years ago and gave him a car. White also was a guest at Jackson's California ranch during the New Year's holiday.
Bush, who was in Indianapolis for a political fund-raiser, planted a tree for White at a ceremony 1 1/2 miles from the hospital.
"He's been fighting a courageous battle against a deadly disease and also against ignorance and fear. Ryan has helped us understand the truth about AIDS and he's shown all of us the strength and bravery of the human heart," Bush said.
"So today, as we plant this beautiful American elm, this symbol of life . . . let it be Ryan's tree. God bless that young man, God bless his family and God bless the United States of America."
Kleiman said White's condition could remain unchanged indefinitely and that the family had not discussed disconnecting life-support systems.
Five years ago, White, who was diagnosed as having AIDS at age 13, was barred from school near Kokomo by officials who feared acquired immune deficiency syndrome could be transmitted to other students.
White is a hemophiliac who contracted AIDS from contaminated blood products.
by CNB