In the Absence of Angels

In 1981, Elizabeth Glaser, wife of the star of television's "Starsky and Hutch", received a transfusion of contaminated blood. As a result, she and her son are HIV-positive and her daughter has developed AIDS. This is her story of private tragedy and her work for the Paediatric AIDS Foundation.

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In August 1981, after giving birth to her daughter Ariel and haemorrhaging badly, Elizabeth Glaser was given a transfusion of seven pints of blood. Four years later the nightmare began - an ailing Ariel developed full-blown AIDS; Elizabeth and her second child, Jake, were diagnosed HIV-positive. The "life-saving" blood had been contaminated, and only husband Paul (star of television's "Starsky and Hutch") had escaped infection. Faced with both private tragedy and the fear and ignorance of the world at large, Elizabeth Glaser decided to fight AIDS before it destroyed not only her own family, but thousands of others. She embarked upon a relentless campaign and enlisted the support of celebrities and politicians to start the Paediatric AIDS Foundation. This book is her story of how one family has battled against the disease and the fears and prejudices it arouses.