On December 1, 2024, to mark World Aids Day, the Thai Red Cross Society held a ceremony to recognise individuals and organisations in Thailand for their contribution to the care of people with HIV/AIDS. 16 awards were presented, with 13 awarded to hospitals and other organisations. Only three individuals were recognised and Fr. Mike was praised for his "outstanding social contribution" over his many years of service to those living with AIDS. Fr. Mike was unable to attend so Fr. Ole represented him and was able to present the award to his mentor over Christmas.
Fr. Mike first came across people dying from AIDS in the mid to late 1990s and felt it his obligation to help them. He had little in the way of medicine as at that time, there were no antiretroviral treatments available. But he and his Outreach team of young Thai women and young Thai priests tended to the dying as best they could. They treated infections, administered painkillers and offered emotional support to people who had been abandoned and shunned. Many died. It was appropriate that Fr. Ole was the one who attended the ceremony as he was one of the seminarians who accompanied Fr. Mike on this early Outreach program for people living with AIDS. The empathy and kindness shown took great character and courage and it is no coincidence that Fr. Ole, Miss Kung and Miss Beh, who were all part of the team, remain central to everything Fr. Mike does.
When Fr. Mike opened Sarnelli House to give shelter to AIDS orphans, there was still nothing in the way of medicine and it wasn't until Kate Introna got her hands on AIDS medications that the children and village adults stopped dying. Twenty years later, some of the children saved by Fr. Mike and Kate are now parents themselves. Nowadays, mother to child transmission is below 1% so children are no longer being born with HIV.
This chapter of his work is only one small part of the remarkable contribution Fr. Mike has made to the people of the north-east of Thailand and he is of course very uncomfortable with any sort of attention. But it was good to see other people recognise what we have long known about the man!
