Healing Austin: How a lone doctor saw drug-fueled HIV plague looming (Part 1)

Austin, Ind. – Johnathon Clark’s head caves in deeply where his grandfather shot him.

He went to the elderly man’s home four and a half years ago hoping to steal money for drugs. An argument got violent. Now, as he sits in Dr. Will Cooke's exam room, he’s maimed for life at 28, a large slice of the right side of his head gone.

But while this visible reminder of his years-long addiction is horrific, a more insidious legacy hides within his body — HIV.

And if he and his doctor can’t keep it under control, it can kill him as surely as a bullet.

Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/indiana/2017/04/19/healing-austin-part-one-lone-doctor/97735232/