Julie Lewis, the mother of Ryan Lewis — the non-rapping half of the Grammy-winning duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — is celebrating 30 years of surviving the HIV virus with the launch of a new pro-healthcare campaign called the 30/30 Project. Watch this moving video about Lewis’ story and her new cause:
Julie Lewis contracted the HIV virus in 1984 while receiving a blood transfusion after giving birth to Ryan’s older sister Teresa, but was not diagnosed until 1990. The creation of the 30/30 Project, which aims to immediately create five new medical facilities, also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the HIV virus.
“I wanted to do something big. The 30/30 Project is that big idea,” Lewis says in the video. “We believe that healthcare is a human right. We have the knowledge, and we have the treatments. Life-threatening diseases like HIV/AIDS can be managed. What people need is access.”
More information about the 30/30 Project can be found here. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are finalists in eight categories at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, set to air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 18.