Woman deliberately infected with HIV byboyfriend 'can't even look herself in the mirror'

A mum-of-three broke down in tears as she told
her boyfriend she had the HIV virus only to reel in
horror when he replied that he knew he had the
disease for years.

Devastated Kara Wilkinson was terrified of telling
callous undertaker Alan Mason, 45, she had the
virus.
But she was totally unaware her lying boyfriend
was so desperate not to lose the woman he
supposedly loved that he hid his condition from
her and stopped taking his medication.
He only confessed after he passed the virus on to
her after 18-months of living together and then
called HER selfish for being so upset.
Devastated Kara, 42, who can no longer look at
herself in the mirror, said: "He's ruined my life.
I'll never forgive him for what he's done."
Speaking after Mason was sentenced to two
years and eight months for greivous bodily harm,
the distraught single mum revealed she has
already suffered four heart attacks, pneumonia,
osteoporosis and severe hair loss since being
diagnosed after a holiday in Benidorm in 2011.

She has visibly changed from the photographs of
a happy-go-lucky blonde of just a few years ago.
Clearly angry at what he has done to her, she
stormed: "He should have been sent to prison for
five years.
"What's to stop him doing it to another woman
when he gets out?
"He's given me a life sentence of misery. Before I
had HIV, I was never ill and had loads of energy.
"Now I seem to be permanently ill, my long
blonde hair has started to fall out and I look
much older than I am.
"I don't even have a mirror in my house as I can't
stand to look at my reflection. He's taken my life
away.
"I won't ever forgive him for what he's done to
me. What he's given me will never go away.
"I don't think I'll ever have another relationship -
how could I ever trust another man?

"And, unlike Alan, I'd hate to put anyone else at
risk from catching HIV."
Kara, a former counsellor from Barrow-in-Furness,
Cumbria, met Mason in April 2010 at a pub in
Kendal.
The single mum had been on her own for two
years and the couple swapped numbers and
enjoyed a first date playing crazy golf.
Two months later Mason moved from his parents
into Kara's rented maisonette and the couple
began doing everything together.




But during a two-week holiday in Benidorm, just
18 months after they met, Kara started to feel
unwell and it was a remark from a doctor back in
the UK in October 2011 that set alarm bells
ringing.
She went on: "At the beginning of the second
week on holiday, I woke up feeling sick, had
diarrhoea and felt weak and dizzy when I stood
up.



When I got back home I saw the doctor and he
said I might be HIV positive.
"It didn't make any sense. I told her that I was in
a long term relationship but agreed anyway to
have a blood test taken just in case.
"When I got home, I told Alan what the doctor
had said.
"He just shrugged, but the next day, he told me
he had something important to say.
"Then he dropped the bombshell that he thought I
was HIV positive, as he'd had the same
symptoms for years before.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My first
thought was, 'I'm going to die.'
"All he could tell me was he'd caught it after a
one night stand with a girl and that he hadn't
told me because he didn't want to lose me.


"He'd even stopped taking his medication when
we moved in together so that I wouldn't get
suspicious.
"He told me that it wouldn't make any difference
to my life, as long as I took the medication.
"Eventually after my questions, he snapped and
accused me of being selfish for talking about HIV
so much.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I kicked
him out."
Since her diagnosis, 5ft tall Kara has struggled to
keep her weight up, dropping to 5st 7lb at one
point, as well as suffering pneumonia and several
heart attacks which has left her having to have
two shunts fitted to open up the arteries her
heart.
She now has to take a large handful of tablets
every day to keep the AIDs infection at bay and
prevent another heart attack.
On September 1, 2014, Mason a divorced father of
two children appeared in Carlisle Crown Court
where he admitted causing Miss Wilkinson
grievous bodily harm by giving her HIV.


The court heard a victim impact statement from
Kara which said: "He has destroyed my life and
the fact of what he did to me will live with me for
the rest of my life."
It emerged Mason had been diagnosed as having
HIV in 2008.
He had given Kara the identical strain of the
disease.
Passing sentence at Carlisle Crown Court, Judge
Paul Batty QC told him: "I am of the view that
you deliberately targeted this hapless, vulnerable
victim."
After the hearing, Det Con Damian West of
Cumbria Police said: "This is a unique case and
the sentencing imposed highlights the disregard
Mason had for his actions.


"Even though the victim has to live with this virus,
modern medication means there should be no
impact on life expectancy - however, the virus
has a significant day to day impact on those who
have to live with it."
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(culled from mirror.co.uk)