Marc is searching for the volunteer who helped him nearly 30 years ago - BBC

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Watch the BBC first on iPlayer 👉 bbc.in/iPlayer... Marc is a public health worker who was diagnosed with HIV aged just 17 in the late 1980s, when the stigma surrounding the disease was at its peak and a diagnosis was considered a death sentence. Struggling to cope, Marc found support at the Landmark Centre in Brixton where he had regular counselling sessions with a volunteer called John, opening up about his fears and hopes for the future ahead. Nearly 30 years later, Marc is desperate to find and thank John for helping him through his darkest hour and encouraging him to live life to the fullest.
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[@sujulovenl5753]

"There is nobody else left" omg my heart broke. 2 amazing human beings ❤ This is how people should all be - be there for each other and accept people for who they are

[@christineclarke1653]

I had the absolute privilege of working as an adviser to people affected by HIV. Many years later, I sometimes bump into my former clients. The joy I feel at seeing them happy and healthy is indescribable. And they give the best hugs xx

[@arunaabikar5099]

when i have no reason to cry on a good day, I watch these videos and bawl my eyes out. Good crying. God bless these souls who make us want to help others unconditionally.

[@sekhmara8590]

Thank you for the heartwarming story. The 80's were a horrific nightmare, so glad these two survived.

[@csharpe5787]

What a lovely heartwarming video. We need to remember more that there was a lot of good in people.

[@LauraBidingCitizen]

This reminded me of a few people in my past who I have always tried to find in my adult years to say thank you to. They had such an impact on my life in terms of just being a pillar of strength at a time when I was at my most vulnerable, & I have always just wanted to hold & hug them now I’m getting older, just to say thank you. I’m disabled now, & it almost feels even more important since my life has changed so drastically from where I expected it to go.
I’m so glad Marc managed to meet John, I can see how both of them impacted one another’s lives at a time when things were so overwhelmingly difficult for the gay / aids / HIV community. People like John save lives, & steer people in directions they never realised they needed to go in without even realising; they’re such influential people who you rarely forget if you meet them.
Thank you for sharing your first meeting, I know it must’ve been incredibly emotional. X

[@aprilsmith3683]

Smiling and crying at the same time...🇿🇦

[@withoutwithin]

This is what it's about. Lifting each other up and looking out for each other as a society. Next time you get angry at someone for being "woke", consider that they might just be trying to stand up for people like Marc who have been oppressed, even if you don't agree with their reactions.

[@CharlotteIssyvoo]

Amen! I was one of those people fighting for LGBT rights (long before we called it LGBT), when very few people cared. Starting in 1990, I worked at the only gay newspaper in my province. We were mostly volunteer run, and the paper came out only once a month, but it was a lifeline to so many people. AIDS was still killing men everywhere we turned. One of my coworkers found out he was HIV+ at the beginning of the summer, and was gone by summer's end. LGBT rights were something worth fighting for, and I did indeed face derision and real danger for what I was doing and who I was. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that we'd achieve as much as we have. I was just hoping that maybe some day landlords wouldn't be able to kick us out for being gay. But we achieved so much more! Now, I still face derision as I fight for the rights of the disabled, and child sex trafficking victims. But I look back on what we managed to achieve for gay rights, and I think, "If I could do that, maybe something good will come of what I'm doing now too."

[@faisalahmad4455]

Respect. Thankyou. Always

[@Unreliable_NPC]

Humanity is so beautiful

[@artists_lodge]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing this moment.

[@awoFalase]

Beautiful. Definitely has been a long road from those days.

[@deepmusic3321]

Thank you😍 for support❤️...

[@celeste5508]

So touching ❤

[@DeneF]

Brought a tear to my eye. Thanks.

[@22patch22]

This is so lovely

[@CleopatraTelevision]

Ça fait tellement de bien de voir de telles vidéos. De voir que même dans des temps pareils, il y avait des personnes qui ont tendu leurs mains...

[@focus1007]

So bful it is ..❤️

[@bozolito108]

Tissues please

[@vancouverislandandthething3945]

This❣️

[@branka9389]

💜

[@svlagonda7417]

3:22 no criticism of the story at all but BBC producers have made such a contrived / reconstructed scene that undermines the story trying to be told here. Just let the protagonists just "be" when they meet, don't direct them to ham it up, act surprised etc. Whoever directed that scene in the video needs to be fired, as they don't seem to have a clue about authenticity.

[@indranoer6201]

👌👌💞🙏💛💗

[@kaido9883]

He survive from hiv?