Timothy Ray Brown - first person cured of HIV dies aged 54

This March 4, 2019, file photo shows Timothy Ray Brown posed in Seattle. Source: AP. The first person to be cured of HIV, Timothy Ray Brown - known as the "Berlin Patient" - has died after a battle with cancer, the International Aids Society (IAS) announced yesterday (Wednesday). He was 54. Mr Brown was diagnosed with HIV while was studying in Berlin in 1995. A decade later, he was diagnosed with leukaemia, a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. To treat his leukaemia, his doctor at the Free University of Berlin used a stem cell transplant from a donor who had a rare genetic mutation that gave him natural resistance to HIV, hoping it may wipe out both diseases. It took two painful and dangerous procedures, but it was a success: in 2008 Mr Brown was declared free of the two ailments, and was initially dubbed "the Berlin Patient" at a medical conference to preserve his anonymity.