A US man whose father injected him with HIV infected blood as a child has forgiven him.
Brian Stewart injected his infant son Brryan with HIV infected blood to avoid paying child support after he separated from the child’s mother.
Diagnosed with AIDS aged just five, Brryan was not expected to survive the disease. He came to Christ aged 13, which led him to forgive his father, and he now prays for his salvation.
‘God is bigger’
Stewart was jailed for life in 1998, and at a recent parole hearing, Brryan was called to give testimony against him. However, while he has forgiven Stewart, Brryan still believes his father should serve his time.
Unsure as to what the outcome would be, he said: “I tried to remind myself that God was with me. Whatever the result of the hearing, God is bigger than me, bigger than my father, bigger than that room or even the Justice Department.”
After hearing Brryan’s testimony, the Missouri Department of Corrections informed him they had denied Brian Stewart parole for another five years.
Forgiveness
After the hearing, he said: “All I could do at the hearing was read my statement and pray and hope justice is done.”
“I may have forgiven him, but even in forgiveness I believe you have to pay the consequences.”
In an interview in April with GQ magazine, he talked about forgiveness, accountability, and moving forward.
‘Accountable’
He said: “I don’t know the guy; I just know what he has done, and I feel like you have to be accountable for what you’ve done. Maybe there’s some regret; maybe that’s a change of heart. I don’t know what he thinks or what he does, but since I’ve forgiven him, that’s all I can do. Just live my life and show him what I’m made of.”
While his father denies his son has HIV, even pointing to websites which deny its existence, Brryan is determined to live his life as an example to others, and has set up the organisation Hope Is Vital.