Seb Franklin’s world is rocked in Coronation Street next week when he discovers that he is HIV positive, following his fall from a ladder.
The doctors tell his mum, Abi, and Faye and Anna Windass that they need to run some extra tests as they’re worried about his white blood cell count being low.
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Abi is stricken and, later, confesses to Anna that Seb might have contracted the virus from an ex-girlfriend, but she’s never had the courage to tell him.
Anna is shocked as obviously this means that Faye could be infected too. She then has to break the news to Faye’s dad, Tim.
After initially refusing to take the test, Seb finally agrees and is shocked to learn he is HIV positive.
Actor Harry Visinoni, who plays the youngster, explains why Seb refuses the test to begin with.
He revealed: “He’s scared. One half of Seb is in denial and doesn’t want to find out for sure but the other half of him thinks he probably does have it so there is no point in taking the test, he might as well just resign his fate.
“His whole life he feels like he has let down his brother and sister, that he is a failure, that his mum hates him.
“So now how intense he feels in that hospital bed, part of him is questioning whether he wants to even carry on. He’s always felt low but this is the most ready-to-give-up, the most hopeless he’s felt.”
Harry also revealed that he hopes the storyline will help stop the ongoing stigma about the virus.
He said: “When I started to look into HIV, I felt really ignorant myself because, until this storyline was given to me, I didn’t realise that you can live a life with HIV and it not affect your day to day life.
“And it surprised me to find that out but that there is still such a stigma attached to HIV. It’s such a global disaster, for example the effects that it has had on Africa, it’s really upsetting.”
He added: “It has been challenging working out where all the emotion is coming from within myself but I’ve really put time into it. It’s great to be a part of this storyline and doing my bit to help rid the prejudice against HIV.
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“If people don’t know much about HIV, hopefully they will be as surprised as I was to find out that it is something that you can live with. Hopefully they learn more about HIV than they did beforehand. “