Former Welsh XV captain Gareth Thomas reveals his HIV status

Gareth Thomas, the former captain of the Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby team, revealed Saturday (September 14th) that he has the AIDS virus.

"When I discovered that I should live with the HIV virus, my first thought was to tell me I was going to die," says 45-year-old Gareth Thomas in a documentary that airs on Wednesday.

"I do not blame people for being unaware of the situation, the problem is that in the scenarios accepted in the 1980s, people did not talk about it because they did not have other information "than to know that one has AIDS, the man added to the 100 international selections.

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Gareth Thomas, who has played in four World Cups, is the first British sportsman to reveal his HIV status. He had revealed his homosexuality in 2009.

He pointed out that the disease had little impact on his daily life apart from the fact that he has to take a tablet of medicine every day and has to go for a blood test at a hospital every six months.

Gareth Thomas started his international career with Wales in 1995.

With AFP