let it ride

The Reason This Man Is Riding Across California Will Break Your Heart And Inspire You

unnamedDavid Flanagan won’t ever forget the HIV/AIDS-related death of his son Josh, complete with bedsores, a collapsed lung, and health care workers who seemed to know little about how to treat him. It was a fate suffered by too many gay men in the ‘80s. Josh, however, died just two years ago and only 5 months after being diagnosed HIV-positive.

David, 54, is participating in this week’s AIDS/LifeCycle, along with his wife Talana, to tell the story of their 27-year-old son who died without access to the care that could have saved him.

Friends of Josh invited David to ride with the “New Bear Republic Team.” David didn’t understand the relevance of the term “bear” until he joined the guys in San Francisco for the start of the 545-mile ride to Los Angeles. Now he’s as happy and proud as his son to identify as a bear.

From a rural town in Texas, they’ve joined about 3,000 other people, from nearly every state in the union and 21 countries, to raise a record $16.3 million for San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV/AIDS-related services of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Related Article: This Air Force Captain Used Grindr And Scruff To Raise $59K To Fight HIV

This emotional short video tells their story:

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