'I felt my life was over': Lenny Royal on the horror of being deliberately infected with HIV

One of five men infected by hairdresser Daryll Rowe, Royal’s own diagnosis came after both his parents died of Aids. He explains why he waived his anonymity to talk about the case

‘There’s no guide book for how to deal with this,” says Lenny Royal on his life since being maliciously infected with HIV. Last year his attacker, Daryll Rowe, became the first person to be jailed for using his illness as a weapon by deliberately infecting Royal and four other men with the virus, and exposing five others to it.

Royal, 38, is an engaging and personable makeup artist whose celebrity clients have included Sigourney Weaver and Hailey Baldwin. The day after our interview, he will create glamorous looks for the Brit Awards. He is used to operating behind the scenes, but has waived his anonymity to appear in a new BBC documentary about the Rowe case. He explains that his purpose in contributing to The Man Who Used HIV as a Weapon is straightforward: “There was all this video of Daryll, Daryll, Daryll, Daryll and there was no voice for any of the victims.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2F9L2mX
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