THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060086
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Ray Walker was remembering how it was that his son Andy decided to leave their Chincoteague home to cut hair for a living in Norfolk. In his youth, the elder Walker had a barber as a roommate. So father and son joked about good haircuts and bad and how to cope with trims gone wrong.
Eleven days ago Sunday, Andy, 32, died of AIDS. As Walkerlooked back on his son's life, with affection and with humor, he began to weep.
``He was a good boy,'' Walker said, removing his glasses to dab his tears with a handkerchief. ``You lose a child and you lose part of yourself. It really hurt me. It really, really hurt me.''
Partly to ease his family's pain, Walker, his wife, Nora, and nearly 50 assorted relations, friends and co-workers gathered Sunday in the parking lot of Harbor Park for the fifth annual Hampton Roads AIDS Walk for Life. The Walkers joined some 1,500 other participants, braving chilly temperatures and a brisk wind to walk a little over 3 miles, from the parking lot of the baseball stadium to Nauticus and back.
By the end of the day, the Walker's group, sporting T-shirts that proclaimed ``I Walk For Andy'' in large red letters, had turned in contributions totaling $6,841.
All told, said Ginny Sealey, the walk's media coordinator, twin events in Hampton and Norfolk together raised close to $90,000. When anticipated pledges are added to that in-hand amount, the total should meet last year's collection of $95,000.
``It was a great day,'' Sealey said. ``We'll meet our goal.''
The money raised Sunday will be spread among 11 local organizations that offer assistance to those suffering from AIDS-related disease. Such fundraising is critical, organizers say, as patient populations grow.
``If these agencies weren't here, there would be a lot more dead people,'' said Kyle Taylor, who founded the AIDS walk in 1991.
In 1988, Taylor first tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In late August, he quit his job as a treatment plan coordinator for a Portsmouth psychiatric hospital because his health began to deteriorate.
``I was financially secure,'' Taylor said. ``Now I'm on food stamps and watching every penny. Thank God I have these agencies.''
According to figures compiled by the nonprofit foundation that sponsored the walk, the rate of AIDS cases per 100,000 population in eastern Virginia has risen sharply, from 26.9 in 1994 to an estimated 35.9 this year.
``If the trends continue, sooner or later everyone in North America will know someone who has AIDS,'' predicted Richard Cory. Cory is an engineer who lives in Chesapeake with his HIV-positive wife, Cathie, and their 9-year-old son, Alex, who has developed AIDS but remains healthy.
``As more and more people are affected by this, awareness will be heightened,'' said Cory. ``As a society we'll have no choice but to deal with (AIDS), hopefully in a compassionate and positive way.''
As walkers strolled alongside the Elizabeth River toward Waterside, they caught the curious glances of some passers-by. Hampton resident Jennifer Higgins was sitting with her fiance and friends in front of Waterside shops as the march passed.
``This is one of the ways to speak out and educate people,'' Higgins said. ``There's a disease out there. It can kill. It affects everybody.'' MEMO: For more information on the Hampton Roads AIDS Walk Foundation, call
531-AIDS (531-2437).
ILLUSTRATION: AIDS WALK FOR LIFE
[Color Photos]
JIM WALKER PHOTOS
The Virginian-Pilot
Some 1,500 participants turned out Sunday to walk from Harbor Park
to Nauticus. The money they raised will be spread among 11 local
organizations that offer assistance to people suffering from
AIDS-related problems.
Nora Walker and friends raised $6,841 in memory of her son Andy, 32,
who died of AIDS Oct. 25.
by CNB