The Road to Cologne: Ryan Wilcox - Ice Skating

The following exerpt is from the blog of the Denver Post by Caitlin Brozna

Local 30-year survivor dreams of competing in Gay Games in Germany

by: Caitlin Brozna

Ryan Wilcox is a 50-year-old Denverite, who was born in Greeley and raised on a dairy farm in Cañon City. In 1979, he contracted HIV/AIDS before there even was the diagnosis of AIDS.

Ryan has been living with AIDS for almost 31 one years, being one of the first to experience the struggles and stigmas that come with the disease. After losing his partner of many in years in 1989 due to AIDS, Ryan started a slow decline into depression and failing health.

Ryan said, "At that time I was in very bad health, depressed, and wondered how I could be alive after so many years with AIDS. My passion and artistic expression were gone, my partner taken from me, and I was alone, living with this disease. Actually, I wasn't living at all, but sitting at home waiting to die in my chair, cocktail in hand."

By 2006, Ryan was walking with a cane and his weight had fallen to 97 pounds. It was in 2006 that Ryan had first heard of the Gay Games, when he was invited by friends to participate and "flag" for the opening ceremonies in Chicago. Due to his health, he was not able to attend but became intrigued by the idea of a "Gay Games," an organization he had never heard of.

After learning about the Gay Games, Ryan was inspired to change his life. He wanted to participate in the 2010 Gay Games that were to be held in Cologne, Germany. He started eating more and turned away from alcohol and the bar scene. He then returned to his childhood passion and sport of figure skating, which his grandmother had him involved in as a child in Colorado Springs. Ryan enrolled in a "Learn To Skate" program at Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver and also began taking private lessons. Slowly his strength and articulation came back to him.

"At the time, I didn't know how I would get there (Germany) but that was my dream, just to be in Cologne and to be a part of it. Skating has brought me to life again, healing myself from my own self-loathing and depression," he said.

That is how Ryan's dream started but it has transformed into something else entirely. Recently Ryan learned of a friend who was diagnosed with HIV and soon after took his own life.

"This has to stop," Ryan said, "I want people living with HIV and AIDS to know this disease is manageable now, that it is not the end. You will have bad days but you will survive and you can strive, you can love, and most of all you can dream."

Click HERE for the fully story on the YourHub.com blog.