MAY 3, 2015, 4:17 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2015, 10:22 PM
BY MINJAE PARK
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Having lost an uncle to AIDS two decades ago, when HIV — the virus that causes the condition — was a protracted death sentence, Johnisha Gooch feared the worst when she tested positive on Sept. 21, 2012, a date she remembers like her birthday.
“I honestly thought my life was over,” said Gooch, a Hackensack native.
But strolling a scenic, sunny path along Saddle River at the Saddle River County Park for the annual New Jersey AIDS Walk on Sunday, Gooch showed that the daily pleasures of life can continue as before. She enjoys walking — “This is perfect,” she said — and she also relishes spending time with her brother, sister and mother, cooking soul food, shopping and reading urban fiction. She takes an antiretroviral drug once a day.
“I move ahead of HIV,” she said. “I do what I have to do every day.”
The walk was hosted by the Buddies of New Jersey, a non-profit that offers services for those with HIV/AIDS in Bergen and Passaic counties. The goal was to raise $58,000.
Other AIDS walks were also taking place Sunday in Morristown, Newark, Asbury Park and Atlantic City.
Gooch lives in the Robert A. Harrison House, an assisted-living facility in Paramus for people who are HIV-positive. It is on the grounds of the Bergen Regional Medical Center and is run by Buddies of New Jersey.
“The main thing is trying to prevent new infections,” said Mark Anderson, the executive director of Buddies of New Jersey.
With 4,659 AIDS cases and 1,608 HIV cases reported by the end of last year, Passaic County ranks third among New Jersey counties in disease prevalence, behind Hudson and Essex counties, according to a state Department of Health website. Bergen County has 2,550 AIDS cases and 967 HIV cases reported.
The population with HIV/AIDS is aging in New Jersey, with numbers growing for those aged 45 to 64, and 65 and older, according to a state report from December 2014.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-aids-walk-raises-funds-to-provide-services-1.1324678
