Max Niggl, 66
Speakers Bureau Coordinator, Living Positive Victoria
Cis male, Gay
He/him
“You’re so unwell, what’s happened Max?” she asked as she sat by his bed keeping watch over him.
In the midst of renovating his new home in 1986, Max started to feel unwell and breathless, prompting him to visit his doctor.
“My doctor explained that the breathlessness I was experiencing was caused by a rare form of pneumonia that was common among HIV patients, and immediately sent me to Fairfield Hospital where all the HIV patients in Melbourne were being treated,” Max recalls.
His mother, a former nurse, sensed something was amiss when she learnt from his workplace that he had been admitted to Fairfield Hospital and decided she would come to help him.
“I realised I couldn’t hide it from her anymore, so I said ‘Mum, I’ve got to be really honest with you. I’m gay, I’ve been diagnosed as HIV positive and what I have is an AIDS-defining illness,’” remembers Max.
With the support and love of both his parents, Max continued treatment at the Fairfield Hospital over the next decade until its closure in 1996. For Max and many others, the Fairfield Hospital became a haven, a place of complete acceptance and solace, as well as a place of grief and sorrow.
“The staff at the hospital were just completely wonderful and treated us with so much dignity. At the same time, it was absolutely tragic to see so many die from the disease, and some abandoned by their loved ones because of it,” acknowledges Max.
Photo notes:
Max took me on a little tour of the former Fairfield Hospital recently, which is now home to Melbourne Polytechnic’s Fairfield Campus. Despite being repurposed, much of the building and the grounds remain the same, with a story in every corner.