Unspeakable

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How quickly people forget.

Many of you know what happened.

Some of you lived through it.

It might surprise you

how many people out there aren't aware of it at all.

Some have a vague idea, but so few know the details.

It's shocking.

It's hard to believe.

It was, even at the time.

Back then, there was no Internet.

There was no Facebook or Twitter,

or whatever the kids are using today.

People didn't have cell phones to connect them instantly

to the latest news and information.

As a former journalist,

it was my job to inform the public.

To warn people if they were in danger.

To get to the truth.

Quite simply, we failed.

Ahem.

I've read studies that suggest

human beings feel more empathy

for one single victim

than they would for thousands affected by the same event.

So let me try and put this story

in a more personal context.

I'm doubly responsible.

It was not only my job as a journalist

to get to the truth...

it was my job as a father.

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- Excuse me. - Can we get in there, please?

- My son is bleeding. - Ma'am, you have to register.

No, we've been here three times already!

- He needs help now! - These people are ahead of you.

He was circumcised yesterday.

They said the bleeding would stop in an hour.

- You have to register. - Look!

Come with me.

I know, it looks like we're torturing him,

but it's much easier

to get the I.V. into a vein on his head.

The blood tests show that his clotting factor

is very low.

Less than 1%.

What does that mean?

Have you heard of hemophilia?

It's an inherited genetic disease.

The body doesn't produce clotting factor,

which means serious bleeding goes unchecked.

It's something that's passed on through the mother.

Women are carriers and often don't know it.

- I had no idea. - It's not very common.

Roughly one in 10,000.

In the past, the prognosis was not good.

But, very recently, developments have been made

in clotting factor replacement therapy...

something called "cryoprecipitate."

That's what we're administering now.

Please...

just tell me...

is he gonna be okay?

Hey.

You should get some sleep.

This is not your fault.

I spoke to my mother.

I had an uncle who died young. I never knew why.

It turns out it was hemophilia.

She didn't warn you?

She didn't understand how it was passed on.

She said they used

to duct tape pillows around him

when he was a boy.

They wheeled him around in a wagon

so he wouldn't hurt himself.

We're gonna be all right.

I love you.

We have a beautiful boy,

and he's gonna be fine.

We just have to be a little more careful.

- _ - Back door, back door. Here, here.

Slap it, slap it!

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Stay down, homo, if you know what's good for you.

You okay?

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You shoot up before the game?

No.

Don't worry.

I got your back.

That dickhead's going down.

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I hate this shit.

It never dissolves properly.

Hi.

Hi.

What happened?

I just hurt my shoulder.

Playing road hockey.

I thought we decided that was a bad idea.

You decided.

Hey, Mom. We're really hungry.

Can we have a snack?

Oh, it's okay.

It's just my brother. He does it all the time.

Yeah. It doesn't hurt or nothing.

Oh! Oh, jeez...

I'll call her mother.

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All right, come on. We're late.

Why do I have to go to the dentist

on my one day off school?

Because it's also my day off school.

I'm done.

You think I'm gonna need a needle?

Oh, what's the problem? You just took one.

Yeah, but it wasn't in my mouth.

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You know, you should really spruce up the place a little.

Why does nothing ever work? These keys keep sticking.

Hey, I thought we agreed that last cup makes another pot.

- Sorry. - Also,

I'm not the receptionist.

Noted. For the record, who is?

Well, okay, right now, it's me,

but you need to check

the resumes I left on your desk,

and Margaret's on line two.

Next time, you might want to lead with that.

Hi! Everything okay?

Uh, it's fine, yeah. We're just at the dentist.

I know, that's why I was asking.

If something can be transmitted sexually,

it would be also transmitted by blood, right?

Theoretically. Why?

There's an article in The Times...

You didn't finish the crossword, did you?

Oh, forget about that.

There's a new disease

emerging in the gay community in the U.S.

They're calling it "pre-cancer syndrome."

Yeah, I think I heard of that.

It's, um... "G.R.I.D."

"Gay-related immune deficiency."

This article is saying that the Centers for Disease Control

thinks it might be an infectious agent.

This new concentrate that Ryan is taking,

it's pooled from how many blood donors?

Is it 20,000?

I know you probably think I'm overreacting, but...

No.

No, I'll... I'll call the CDC.

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Vancouver Daily News.

Mysterious disease no one knows anything about.

A few gays in the U.S.

That's a few hundred cases.

And the death rate is high... it's almost all of them.

Homosexuals?

Oh, so because it's gay people, nobody cares?

Oh, look, it's buried in the back.

The Times doesn't care either.

Not everything's gonna be Clifford Olson.

11 grisly murders in our own backyard.

Gonna be tough to top that.

We have a big gay community here.

Really? I hadn't noticed.

So, how many people have this thing?

Well, as of March,

there's one reported case in Canada.

It's a guy in Windsor, but that doesn't mean...

Get me something else.

It must hurt.

Who hit you?

Doncaster.

Asshole.

Does he know you're a bleeder?

Sorry.

I'd rather he run me over than treat me like a pussy.

Why do you play

when you know you could get hurt?

Because I like it.

I'm not just gonna stop living.

I just take a shot if I need it.

Your parents must worry about you.

Yeah? How about yours?

They know you're smoking weed

in the park with boys?

Not "boys."

One boy.

Why do it?

Because I like it.

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There's nothing to worry about.

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