Former Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby captain Gareth Thomas has revealed he is HIV positive.
In a documentary to be broadcast on Wednesday, the 45-year-old, who came out as gay in 2009, explains how in 2018 he felt like dying.
"When I first found out that I was going to have to live with HIV, the first thing I thought was straight away: I was going to die," he said.
— Gareth Thomas (@gareththomas14) September 14, 2019
"It's not like I blame people for not knowing this.
"This is a subject that because of the 1980s scenarios people don't talk about it because that's the only information they have."
Thomas released a video on Twitter on Saturday night, saying he was "forced" to reveal his diagnosis so that it wasn't made public by media outlets.
"I'm Gareth Thomas and I want to share my secret with you. Why? Because it's mine to tell you., not the evils that make my life hell, threatening to tell you before I do, and because I believe in you and I trust you," he said in the video.
"I'm living with HIV. Now you have that information, that makes me extremely vulnerable but it does not make me weak.
"Now even though, I've been forced to tell you this I choose to fight, to educate and break the stigma around this subject and that begins today when I take on the toughest Iron Man in the world...and I push myself physically to the limits.
"I'm asking you to help me to show that everyone lives in fear of people's reactions and opinions of something about them. But that doesn't mean that we should have to hide. TO do this, I really, really need your support."
Thomas says the condition has little impact on his day-to-day life given the advances in medicine other than taking a single pill every day and visiting the hospital for blood tests every six months.
Thomas made his Test debut for Wales in 1995 and went on to win 100 caps as well as three for the Lions in 2005.
