It was almost a year ago that lovely Justin David at Inkandescent sent me a copy of Bleeding Fabulous by Mark Ward in return for an honest review. As a teenager I babysat a little boy who had haemophilia and I was always terrified he might suffer internal bleeding so I was intrigued to read this memoir. I’m delighted finally to have got round to reading Bleeding Fabulous and am delighted to share my review today.
Bleeding Fabulous was published by Inkandescent on 24th November 2024 and is available for purchase here.
Bleeding Fabulous
The story of how a boy came to be infected with blood borne viruses, and in spite of multiple death sentences, lived to become the world’s first ever LGBTQ+ Ambassador for Haemophilia.
‘Faced daily with my own mortality, I chose to live fabulously—each of my fifty-five years has been full of love, laughter, adventure… and feather boas.’
Mark Ward is the founder of Haemosexual—an online support and information resource championing equality, education and better healthcare for everyone with a bleeding disorder, no matter what their sexual orientation. Mark’s battle to secure a public enquiry into the Infected Blood Scandal has led him to places he never expected, and to meet people he never dreamt of.
‘Mark is a survivor, literally, of the HIV visited upon him through contaminated blood, but rather than merely revelling in the simple fact of life, he has heroically dedicated himself to ensuring life remains possible for others.’—Sam Stein KC
This forthright (and fabulous) memoir, recounts the journey of an unlikely lad from Letchworth who grows up to be a renowned and respected rights campaigner.
My Review of Bleeding Fabulous
A memoir.
My goodness. Bleeding Fabulous is exactly that – bleeding fabulous – and I thought it was astonishing. Mark Ward’s writing is candid, honest, and utterly gripping because it reveals the most compelling insight into how a young boy with haemophilia became a man infected with all manner of life threatening viruses as a result of the treatment he received from the very people who were meant to be caring for him.
Having been a young teacher in the early 1980’s when the tombstone A.I.D.S adverts were proliferating, I knew a little bit about the Infected Blood Scandal but here we have the most affecting, personal account that hits the reader right in the solar plexus. The stark brutality and prejudice of those Mark encountered in some health care workers, politicians and employers balanced by the sheer tenderness and support he witnessed from those such as Richard and his Mum, simply leaps from the page. I confess to being slightly ashamed of my casual, naïve, lack of knowledge and understanding into what people like Mark have endured. Bleeding Fabulous might be a hugely entertaining memoir, but it’s important and educational too.
What works so well in Bleeding Fabulous is the insight into the machinations of national and international health, politics, employment and education that is presented by a warm, flawed, sensitive human being who is unafraid to show himself – warts and all. This means that we gain an understanding of a genuine human being rather than a statistic or a briefly read headline. I loved Mark’s passion for air travel, life and his pets, for example, and felt for him every time he was rushed to hospital or suffered another prejudice or knock back because of his sexual orientation or the infections he carried through no fault of his own. The author actually has a wicked sense of humour and whilst he brought a tear to my eye on many occasions, I laughed too. Indeed, Mark Ward engendered several emotions as I went with him on his life’s journey, from despair to hope, fury to joy and all the emotions in between. The author takes the reader on a roller coaster of a trip.
Certainly Bleeding Fabulous isn’t the most literary book I’ve ever read, but I think it might be one of the most touching and affecting. Alongside smashing photos that bring the people in the book to life, Mark Ward’s accessible, no nonsense, style is incredibly impactful. Anyone reading Bleeding Fabulous who is not shocked and horrified by humanity but ultimately uplifted and encouraged by it too, simply isn’t human. Bleeding Fabulous is a must read book and I feel privileged to have done so.
About Mark Ward
Mark Ward is fifty-five years young and lives near Brighton. He was born with severe haemophilia and grew up in Hertfordshire—where he was the first severe haemophiliac to attend a ‘normal’ school, enabling special needs education to be established. At school and in hospital, he was often given other people’s opinions regarding his chosen career in aviation. But this never stopped him from dreaming, and then proving them all wrong: he joined the British Airways Youth Training Scheme at sixteen. He worked within the airline across a variety of departments on the ground and in the air, before his health declined and he medically retired.
Mark then became the ‘Door Whore’ for G-A-Y at the London Astoria, working with some huge stars and even performing as a drag queen.
He’s been an HIV and LGBTQ+ activist for over thirty years and has volunteered for charities including Terence Higgins Trust, the West Midlands Lesbian & Gay Switchboard and Open Door in Brighton.
In 2004, he addressed the World Federation of Haemophilia Congress in Bangkok with his ground-breaking booklet ‘You Don’t Have to be Straight to Take Factor 8’; he was then asked to join the newly-established Tainted Blood Committee in 2006, and has since become an experienced campaigner, media representative and core participant in the Infected Blood Inquiry.
In 2013 he created the support network Haemosexual for those with a bleeding disorder who identify as LGBTQ+ to provide sexual health education and tackle stigma.
He’s been an active member of The Haemophilia Society for more than twenty-five years and in 2019, he became the world’s first ever LGBTQ+ Ambassador for Haemophilia.
You’ll find Mark on Facebook and Twitter/X @Haemosexual.
