Hydeia Broadbent, AIDS activist, dies at age 39

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Hydeia Broadbent, known for raising awareness about HIV/AIDS since she was a child, has died, her father said in Facebook. She was 39 years old.

“It is with great sadness that I must inform everyone that our dear friend, mentor and daughter, Hydeia, passed away today after living with AIDS since birth. Despite facing numerous challenges throughout her life, Hydeia remained determined to spread hope and positivity through HIV/AIDS education,” said Loren Broadbent in her mail.

Hydeia was six weeks old when Loren and Patricia Broadbent took her in after being abandoned at a Las Vegas hospital by her birth mother. CNN previously reported.

When she was 3 years old, the family learned that a woman with the same last name as Hydeia had also given birth to a child in the same hospital where she was born and had left the child there. Both mother and child tested positive for AIDS.

The family had Hydeia tested and she also tested positive.

Hydeia became the face of children with AIDS in the United States. She appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Maury Povich Show,” “Good Morning America” and many other shows. At the 1996 Republican Convention, Hydeia, then 12, told the crowd, “I am the future and I have AIDS.”

In a post on X, Earvin Magic Johnson paid tribute to the young activist he met when she was just seven years old.

“I am devastated to learn of the passing of an incredible young woman, activist and hero, Hydeia Broadbent. In 1992, I did a Nickelodeon special called ‘A Conversation with Magic,’ and 7-year-old Hydeia and I made an incredible impact. “Hydeia changed the world with her bravery, speaking about how living with HIV affected her life from birth,” Johnson said.

“She dedicated her life to activism and became an agent of change in the fight against HIV/AIDS. By speaking out at such a young age, she helped many people, young and old, because she was not afraid to share her story and allowed everyone to see that those living with HIV and AIDS are ordinary people and should be treated with respect. . ”She added.

CNN has reached out to Hydeia’s family.