Late Late Show viewers praise Robbie Lawlor for raising HIV awareness on last night’s show

Late Late Show viewers praised Robbie Lawlor for raising awareness on last night's show.

Robbier, the co-found of Access To Medicines Ireland and HIV advocate for Act Up Dublin, was 21 years old when he was diagnosed with HIV in 2012. He joined Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show on Friday night to talk about living with HIV. Joined by his former partner Shaun Dunne, Robbie said that he was "inconsolable" after getting his diagnosis - and that it was a moment he would "never forget." He explained:

"I'll never forget going back into that constant's room. I sat down, and the consultant was looking at this computer for a few minutes. "She then turned to me, she said: 'Robbie,  the last time you were here you got an HIV test.' I said, 'yeah, normal bloods.' "She said, 'well, it came back positive.' "I hadn't a clue that HIV existed in Ireland. I didn't understand how I was getting this diagnosis. I didn't know anyone living with HIV. "I was inconsolable."

https://twitter.com/RTELateLateShow/status/1096548781699420161 Within two weeks of getting the news, Robbie set about telling his former partners about his diagnosis. He said that the clinic had a service where they would send an anonymous text to inform any former partners. However, Robbie said he wanted to get in touch with them himself as he was still close to them. He continued:

"That was an incredibly difficult time because that was in the first two weeks of diagnosis."

Following the segment on the Friday night chat show, viewers flooded Twitter with praise Robbie's bravery and courage to share his experience. https://twitter.com/WellbeingMattrs/status/1096554264166649857 https://twitter.com/bouncyjohn22/status/1096547842854977536 https://twitter.com/APSOB/status/1096727240086306817 https://twitter.com/HIVTox/status/1096548412969926659 https://twitter.com/katemckarthy/status/1096550718960472067 https://twitter.com/Aisling_H/status/1096550613842825216