Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON chrisj@leader.net
Tuesday, February 08, 2000 Page: 1A
WRIGHT TWP. – A girl with punk red hair, boys in varsity sports jackets and
dozens of other teenagers in suits and dresses bought for better times such as
college interviews and school dances all came Monday to say goodbye to
Christopher Robinson.
More than 400 friends and relatives, including what appeared to be most of
Crestwood High School’s senior class, filled St. Jude’s Roman Catholic Church
for a morning funeral service.
They remembered Christopher as a friend, classmate, beloved relative and
inspiration.
“I just want everybody to know that he was a true hero,” said his brother
Matthew, pressing his words through tears. “He is brave, he fought every day
for his life. I just want to say that I love him.”
Robinson, 18, died Wednesday evening at Geisinger Medical Center in
Danville from a bacterial infection related to AIDS.
His battle with AIDS became public after he revealed his disease in the
Times Leader series “Christopher’s Secret” on Aug. 20, 1995. He sought the
publicity not for sympathy but as a forum to urge others to educate themselves
about AIDS and have compassion for those infected.
Robinson shared that message with thousands of teens, giving speeches in
local schools and places such as Houston, San Francisco, Chicago and London.
How many of those who mourned him Monday had he saved – or will be saved –
because of his lessons about HIV infection and AIDS?
“Chris became a peacemaker across this community, he gave AIDS a face,”
said the Rev. Paul Mullen during his eulogy. “Let the message of this young
man be now, for all of us, a message of hope.”
As death neared, Robinson still championed his cause.
The funeral Mass program included a college application essay Christopher
wrote two weeks before his death. Mullen said it showed the wisdom of someone
who had lived 70 or 80 years.
“As much as my health has changed due to this, I consider contracting this
virus the second most important event of my life,” Christopher wrote. “Even
more important to me was to tell the world that I had AIDS. Taking that risk
has changed my life so much.”
Christopher, a hemophiliac, was infected with HIV sometime during the 1980s
while receiving injections of the clotting agent his blood lacked. His mother,
Dawn Rebarchak, told Christopher about his disease when he was 9, but the
family kept his disease secret until the newspaper series.
After a Catholic Mass, several friends and relatives shared memories of
Christopher at the altar. Some stories brought mourners to laughter, others to
tears.
Tony Lombardi from Safe Haven, a Massachusetts-based organization dedicated
to helping children with AIDS, recalled their visit to London when Christopher
accidentally left his backpack sitting in front of Big Ben, Britain’s most
famous clock. British police swarmed the area.
“Turns out they totally evacuated British government … because of that
backpack,” Lombardi said.
Bill O’Boyle of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeastern Pennsylvania
said, “I just want to tell everyone here Christopher will live forever; he
will live forever in my heart and in everyone’s heart here.”
Christopher’s mother spoke last. She said she wanted her words to be the
last he heard on earth, and she read with passion a poem she had written for
her son during one of his many visits to the hospital.
“In my heart, I can truly say, I wish it were me, if I could only take
this away,” she said.
“You’re not only my son, but my most cherished friend.”
Call Johnson at 829-7226.