AIDS: THE LOST VOICES

Written By Will Hampson
 

In April 1959, David Carr, a 25-year-old man from Manchester, was admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary with an undiagnosed illness that baffled a team of three doctors and several specialists. Over the course of his twenty-week stay, his condition deteriorated alarmingly, culminating in his death at the end of September 1959.

Writing for The Lancet in 1960, the medical team postulated that Carr's immune system had been compromised, displaying symptoms indicative of an AIDS-related illness—though this was unrecognised at the time. A post-mortem examination later revealed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a well-known AIDS-related complication. It wasn't until the late 1980s, with advancements in testing, that samples from Carr's case were confirmed to contain HIV, retroactively designating him as the world’s first AIDS patient.

However, despite the symptoms he displayed, the tests seemed not to be all that they were claimed to be, raising suspicions among medical professionals. It took a professor and his team in the United States to raise the alarm, ultimately determining that there was no clinical evidence to support the assertion that David Carr was infected with HIV/AIDS.

 

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David Carr was born in Manchester at the start of 1934, the only child of proud parents Herbert David Carr and Agnes McKenna, who had wed in the winter of 1932. A handsome young man, he garnered considerable attention from his female classmates and demonstrated a notable prowess in sports, playing for the local estate football team ‘Central Rovers’. Following his national service in the Merchant Navy, David returned home in 1957 and worked as a linotype operator for former Manchester newspaper. In 1959, he became engaged to a young woman named Ethel, with plans to marry in 1960, marking the beginning of a promising new chapter in his life.

Unfortunately for David, he had noticed himself falling ill and admitted himself to Manchester Royal Infirmary on the 8th April 1959. Doctors were baffled as to what was wrong with him, but it was clear he was incredibly unwell, deteriorating further as the weeks went on. Despite their efforts, his condition worsened, and he sadly passed away on the 31st August 1959. David was survived by his parents and his fiancée, Ethel, leaving behind a profound sense of loss and unanswered questions about his untimely demise.

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NOTE: The doctors who attended to David were steadfast in their belief that the samples collected by the pathologist tested positive for HIV, a conclusion that has since been challenged and proven to be inaccurate. In 1959, when David’s case was recorded, HIV was not yet understood, leading to the official cause of death being documented as Wegener granulomatosis. This absence of clinical awareness and data surrounding HIV at that time complicated the narrative, rendering it impossible to conclusively assert that David’s demise was the result of HIV/AIDS. Instead, the historical context underscores the medical limitations of the era and highlights the complexities surrounding early cases of the virus. 

Wegener granulomatosis seems to be an accurate cause of death given the symptoms David experienced, although some similar to AIDS-related complications, fit those experienced as wegener granulomatosis. David Carr was not, and never was, with an HIV or AIDS diagnosis,

Will Hampson
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AIDS: THE LOST VOICES