No one knows why Frisco resident Glenn Kopanski is still alive, including him.In the time the AIDS survivor has left, he is devoting his life to educating young people about the disease.While on active duty in the United States Navy Kopanski was wounded in a bombing in Beirut in 1983. While being treated for his injuries a doctor advised him to have a tonsillectomy because of the chronic upper respiratory infections he suffered.While performing the tonsillectomy the doctor nicked an artery, making a blood transfusion necessary. That was before anyone knew that donated blood could carry the HIV virus or hepatitis C microbes.The young serviceman contracted both diseases from that tainted blood transfusion.It took four months for symptoms much more serious than upper respiratory infections to appear. He was diagnosed with what later became known as AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.Kopanski is the 18th longest surviving AIDS patient in the United States. He said none of his doctors has ever offered an explanation for his longevity. He said he believes his sheer determination to live an active life and to help educate people about AIDS could be part of the reason.When cytomegalovirus (CMV) confined him to a wheelchair a few years ago, he eventually taught himself to walk again. He refused to take the doctors seriously who told him he would never be able to walk again.He spoke to students at Griffin Middle School earlier this month and will speak to students at Clark and Fowler middle schools in the near future.“There is such a spirit out there for wanting to know about AIDS,” Kopanski said. “These kids are going to be helpless out there. Let’s educate them and then maybe we’ll see the number of new cases go down.”He said students listen to him intently. He usually brings along many of the medications he has to take every day. Someone usually asks if he has encountered any prejudice because he has AIDS.He tells them about a neighbor he had in Lewisville who put up signs in the yard that said, “No AIDS on my lawn.”Shortly after he was diagnosed with the disease, his fiancee left him because she questioned how he contracted the disease. He said people have refused to go near him for fear of getting AIDS.He educates students that it is impossible to contract the disease from a blood transfusion now the way he did because blood is tested for those diseases. He also tells them that young people between the ages of 12 and 25 make up the highest number of new AIDS cases in Collin and Denton counties.Since being diagnosed with AIDS Kopanski has chosen to live a celibate life to avoid putting anyone else at risk. He tells young people to know the person they are dating very well.Kopanski is also on the board of directors of AIDS Services of North Texas as well as a patient advocate for the organization. He also writes a landscape column for a local electronic newsletter.“My key to survival is staying motivated,” he said. “I want to bring AIDS awareness to the city of Frisco by fighting this disease through education. I want to tell young kids what I’ve been through in my life. I also want to stop the hatred. AIDS education can beat a cure any day. It’s living life responsibly and knowing your partner. There’s consequences to everything you do in life.”Comments are
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