18-year-old Ryan White was buried on 11 April 1990.
Elton John performed “Skyline Pigeon” at his funeral, and was one of the pall bearers, along with Howie Long, Phil Donahue, and members of Ryan’s family.
Ryan had been diagnosed with AIDS in December 1984. He was a hemophiliac and had contracted the disease via a blood transfusion.
After his diagnosis became known, 117 parents and 50 teachers signed a petition to ban Ryan from school in Russiaville, IN. The principal and schoolboard agreed to the ban, which prompted Ryan’s family to sue so their son could attend school. At the time there were only 148 known cases of pediatric AIDS in the US, but the Indiana state health commissioner and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) notified the school that Ryan posed no health risk. He was not permitted to return to school until Feb. 1986, and when he did, nearly half the students stayed home.
Ryan’s case received national attention, which brought support from numerous celebrities, but also brought death threats. After shots were fired at their home, the Whites decided to leave Kokomo, IN and move. Elton John gave them $16,500 toward their new home. When the Whites repaid them, John put the money in a college fund for Ryan’s sister.
Ryan was a frequent guest on the Phil Donahue Show, where he talked about his disease and the stigma and prejudice associated with it. He spoke before the President’s Commission on the HIV Epidemic in 1988.
When he died on 8 April 1990, Elton John was by his side. John credits the teenager with helping him kick his drug addiction. “Being around the White family made me want to be a better person,” John wrote in his autobiography. “when Ryan White died that I realized I’d reached rock bottom… . Six months later I was clean. I always say a big thank you to him and his family because they showed there was more to life than what I was doing.“
Ryan’s White struggle with HIV also inspired John to start the Elton John AIDS Foundation (which has raised more than $200 million). “[Ryan] got me to realize how out of whack my life was, because I was just in and out of a drug-fueled haze in the ‘80s. I did nothing to help people with AIDS. I was a gay man who really sat on the sidelines.”
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