Chris Oyler

Christine Oyler is an American author, AIDS survivor and activist.

The elder three of Oyler's four sons were born with hemophilia. Her eldest son, Ben Oyler (June 28, 1977 - July 4, 1986)[1] and her brother Scott (died July 5, 1987),[2] who was also a hemophiliac, died of AIDS when they were transfused with clotting factor, vital for treating their condition, that was tainted. Ben was nine years old when he died, approximately 14 months after his AIDS diagnosis.[3]

Ben Oyler was barred, like Ryan White, from attending classes at school although Oyler and her husband Grant declined to contest that ruling, preferring to preserve the family's privacy.[4]

Oyler described the family's experience of her son's illness and death under the title Go Toward the Light, which was the basis for the 1988 made-for-television movie of the same name, with Linda Hamilton as a similarly situated mother.[5] The book also includes how her faith as a Mormon helped her through this time.[6]

  1. ^ Reader's Digest December 1989, Vol 54, No. 321, pg 142, condensed from "Go Toward the Light" Copyright 1988 by The Polson Company and Grant and Chris Oyler, Harper and Row Inc, New York.
  2. ^ "How Medical Success Story Turned Into a Nightmare", Randy Shilts, San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 1989 "AEGiS-SC: How medical success story turned into a nightmare". Archived from the original on 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  3. ^ Linda Hamilton Online Website: Articles & Interviews Archived November 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Reader's Digest December 1989, Vol 54, No. 321, pg 131, condensed from "Go Toward the Light" Copyright 1988 by The Polson Company and Grant and Chris Oyler, Harper and Row Inc, New York.
  5. ^ Go Toward the Light (1988) (TV)
  6. ^ LDSfilm.com