Dad injected him with HIV as a baby, he’s survived to inspire
ST. CHARLES, Missouri — Brryan Jackson has been left out of birthday party invitations and asked not to use water fountains. His daily routine at one point included 23 pills, three IV medications and two injections. But the toughest part of growing up with AIDS for him may be knowing how he got it.
When he was a baby, his father entered his hospital room and injected a syringe of HIV-tainted blood into his tiny body. At times during his childhood, he was expected to die.
Now 18, he’ll put on his black cap and gown Saturday and graduate from Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, near St. Louis. Shielded from the public for much of his life since his father’s high-profile criminal trial a decade ago, Brryan is now an outspoken advocate for people with AIDS, and the power of faith and forgiveness.
This lede from the article Dad Injected him with HIV as a baby, he’s survived to inspire, was published in USA Today on Friday. Betsy Taylor wrote this article from an Associated Press. What really caught my attention about this article was the title. When I read the title I was really shocked and curious about why would a Dad do that and how someone let it happened.
First of all the lede follows some of the tips that Harrower suggested. For example this lede can be categorized as an anecdotal/ narrative lead. Harrower explains how writer uses this type of lede to engage the reader into a meaningful anecdote with a beginning, middle and end, “it will be a mini-story with symbolic resonance for the bigger story to tell.” This story focuses on the life of this young man that has been living with AIDS since he was a baby, but the real story behind his anecdote is to support the people living with the disease and understand what they are going through.
What makes this lede so compelling is how the writer start by saying the what, which in this case is the most important. At first I thought Taylor misspelled the boy’s first name, but after checking a few times over the story I noticed that it was spelled the same way each time, (with two r instead of one) Brryan. The lede is 50 words a little bit long in terms of what Harrower recommends. It works pretty well with story, it doesn’t give away too much, but enough to hook the reader to the story.
June 7, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Anecdotal lede is correct. We see these often in human interest stories like this. You picked a real compelling story and lede. Good job linking it to Harrower’s descriptions.
Anecdotal ledes are tricky to write — but rewarding if we pull them off. I’d like to see the next graph in this story to know if the author generalized out from Brryan to others like him, or if she stayed with a profile about one remarkable person. Anecdotal ledes often need a so-called ‘nut graph’ to give the exact point of the story.
Why don’t you follow up in a comment to tell us.
Glad you noticed the odd spelling. One point we need to learn in this course is that we always must double-check on how people spell their names. The most common name can come with an odd spelling. I often tell the story of interviewing a guy with a very common name.
When I asked at the interview if he spelled Tim the usual way, he stopped me. No, he said. He spelled his name Tymm Browne.
If we don’t ask, we’ll be wrong too often. Brryan reminds us again.
June 7, 2009 at 6:23 pm
The next graph is the following:
“I expect to break the barriers between what people think this virus is, and what it really is,” Brryan said Thursday during an interview at his home. “I hope to eliminate a lot of ignorance and change people’s minds.”
Even though the story is quite long I’m going to copy what I think is the most important of the story:
Brryan has started a nonprofit called Hope Is Vital. He will work this summer with Project Kindle, a California-based organization that sponsors summer camps for children affected by the disease. He also serves as a speaker with that group and a Missouri-based ministry.
Project Kindle’s founder, Eva Payne, said when Brryan first started attending Camp Kindle seven years ago, he was shy and frequently cried, but became more confident. When another girl broke down a few years ago, because she was having trouble talking about being HIV-positive, Brryan offered his support.
He said he can be her voice, until she’s ready,” Payne recalled.
What is interesting about this story is that it uses the so-called “nut graf” where the writer condenses the story idea into a “nutshell”. For example what is important is how Brryan has overcome all the obstacles and now he is graduating from High School. The story focuses mainly on Brryan, however it briefly mentioned how Brryan is working to help those with the disease. This story makes us think and reflect on our lives. The story structure can be defined as “the kabob”, which shows a trend or events where actual people are affected or involve, in this case Brryan.