Young AIDS Activist Dies

J O H A N N E S B U R G, South Africa, June 1 -- Nkosi Johnson, a boy born withHIV who became an outspoken champion of others infected with theAIDS virus, died today of the disease he battled for all 12 of hisyears.

His foster mother, Gail Johnson, said he died peacefully in hissleep early this morning.

Nkosi collapsed in December with AIDS-related brain damage andviral infections. He was not expected to live much longer.

On Thursday, Nkosi lay bedridden in a semi-comatose state,horribly emaciated and reduced almost to a skeleton. A feeding tubeprotruded from his nose. Gail Johnson said he had been unable toeat solid food since last year and had been suffering seizures.

In a recent statement, former President Nelson Mandela calledNkosi an "icon of the struggle for life."

"Children, such as Nkosi Johnson, should be enjoying a lifefilled with joy and laughter and happiness," said Mandela. "On afrightening scale, HIV/AIDS is replacing that joy, laughter andhappiness with paralyzing pain and trauma."

Praised for His Openness About AIDS

Nkosi had been praised for his openness about his infection in acountry where people suspected of carrying the AIDS virus often areshunned by their families and chased from their communities.

"He had an awareness of the threat to his life and theimportance of his life in lessening the threat to other people withAIDS," said High Court Justice Edwin Cameron, who is also infectedwith the virus.

During his short life, Nkosi successfully contested and changedthe policies that kept HIV-infected children out of public schools.With remarkable openness he talked about his own infection,challenging people to re-examine their fear of those afflicted withAIDS.

Nkosi was "a person with maturity far beyond his years, withthe wisdom and courage of many adults accumulated together,"Cameron said recently.

Hated Seeing Sick Babies, Children

Nkosi rose to international fame when in a speech at the openingof the 13th International AIDS conference last July in Durban heasked that AIDS sufferers no longer be stigmatized.