EP4 How one little girl with AIDS moved the country to compassion Guest: Lisa Cintron

People would watch Oprah DAILY. She inspired, and continues to do so. But she was upstaged in 1996 by little Hydeia telling us what it was like as a child to be born with and live with AIDS. The entire country wept with her, even though she fought back tears with enormous strength to tell her story and drive us to action. In the middle of it, Oprah showed a photo on the screen of Binky Patrol founder, Susan Finch holding a blanket and with her business phone number if you wanted to help comfort kids like Hydeia.

Let’s put this in a better context. The internet was just starting. People got their news and found who to follow on television, radio, and in newspapers. Oprah was a big presence. AIDS was still a stigma. Children who were born with it were shunned, ridiculed, and ostracized as if they had a choice in the situation. They felt alone. When Binky Patrol started it was specifically for children like Hydeia. Plenty of organizations made blankets for kids with cancer and other diseases, but they were not addressing those with AIDS, born drug-addicted, in foster care, abandoned, forgotten, or invisible. Those 30 seconds launched Binky Patrol nationally because when Oprah tells you to call a number to help kids, you do it. We are forever grateful.

Lisa Cintron joins Susan to recall the impact 30 seconds on the Oprah Show had on Binky Patrol. We had launched less than 30 days prior, weren’t officially a 501c3 yet, but were approached by the staff at the show because we were focusing on kids like Hydeia who had AIDS. People would watch Oprah DAILY. She inspired, and continues to do so. But she was upstaged in 1996 by little Hydeia telling us what it was like as a child to be born with and live with AIDS. The entire country wept with her, even though she fought back tears with enormous strength to tell her story and drive us to action. In the middle of it, Oprah showed a photo on the screen of Binky Patrol founder, Susan Finch holding a blanket and with her business phone number if you wanted to help comfort kids like Hydeia.