Press Room Why I Participate: Kai Brothers, living with HIV for 25 years (San Francisco, CA) If you would have asked Kai 5 years ago if he would ever ride his bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles, he would have responded with an emphatic, "no!" But, today he is gearing up for his 4th AIDS/LifeCycle. What happened? "I went to a fundraiser where I saw a video of past rides and it inspired me. At that moment I decided to participate, to give back to my community and to give thanks for my good fortune." Kai took his first HIV test in 1989 and found out that he was positive. He believes he contracted the virus in 1981 when he first moved to San Francisco. He remembers having extremely high fevers combined with fatigue, and didn't know what was wrong. In the early 1980's, HIV had yet to be identified and people were hungry for any information. Then came a very dark period for Kai where he lost his best friends to AIDS.Thinking that illness and death were inevitable he reflected on his life and changed his behaviors. Kai is one of a small number of people who are known as long-term non-progressors -- despite never having taken HIV-related medications, Kai continues to enjoy a strong immune system and has never had any illness related to his HIV infection. Kai is involved in several clinical studies of long-term non-progressors that are helping to shed light on the virus. "I hope my participation in these studies can help scientists discover a preventive vaccine, or a cure, so my friends, my community, and all people living with HIV/AIDS no longer have to suffer."