JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 53-year-old man from Germany has been cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant, typically performed in cancer patients.
He is the fifth person to be cured of the disease, a medical breakthrough for the nearly 39 million people living with HIV around the world - Including Justin Bell, a Jacksonville man who was diagnosed with HIV in 2007 after he was rushed to the hospital with a collapsed lung from pneumonia.
He said he was declared dead and went into a coma. When he woke up doctors told him he was diagnosed with HIV.
Bell said was given 90 days to live. 16 years later he's alive and thriving as medical breakthroughs continue to inspire hope for a cure.
"It's been a long journey and it is modern medicine that's keeping me here so these individuals who are cured from HIV although it is a delicate process and delicate situation that they're in, just provides so much hope." Bell said.
Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease specialist, said the treatment is high-risk and designed for cancer patients. Not exclusively for patients living with HIV.
"With that process there is a high process of what we call morbidity and mortality risk of having relapse of that cancer. It's not a risk you'd want people to take if they're living with HIV by itself bit when you're trying to treat that cancer that cancer could lead to death sooner than later but if you're trying to treat that cancer along with HIV than you take this risk."
Bell knows the treatment isn't for him and is at peace with it because of the progress made since his diagnosis.
Specifically side effects from medication.
"I experienced weight loss and then I experienced weight gain, and I experienced a lot of fatigue I experience a lot of nausea vomiting sometimes medications can control what you're actually thinking in your mind, so we've come a long way." Bell said.
With medical advancements, there's hope for Bell. While he waits for his cure, he's doing his part to help others.
Bell is the Vice President of Operations for Reza Health.
"Being a brother in HIV to be human and show individuals I'm human just like you and I can relate." Bell said.