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This Man Has Survived HIV, Cancer And Homelessness, Now He Dedicates His Life To Helping Others

@JessLever

Two years ago David Tovey was one of over 2,500 people who sleep rough in the UK every night. This was the second time he decided to take his own life.

Today he is a renowned photographer, determined to help change society’s perception of homelessness. This weekend he is putting on a fashion show using only recycled materials, symbolising that no matter how broken and disposable a person feels, with help, they can always be fixed.

Up until 2011 he had been working as a successful chef - even cooking for the Queen. Everything changed when David had a stroke aged 36. Returning to his high-pressure job a week later, he couldn’t concentrate on work: “It knocked my sense of safety”, so he left, and soon after his relationship broke down.

Shortly after he was diagnosed with neurosyphilis, a disease that causes syphilis to enter the spinal cord and brain, and a few weeks later he found out he had colon cancer. During his treatment, in which David was injected with a high dose of procaine penicillin, he suffered a heart attack:

“Two weeks in, on 15 December 2011, the nurse gave me the first injection in my buttock and all I remember is a really strong taste of metal in my mouth, and then everything started going echoey. I could hear shouting and it all went black.”

But by February 2012 he was in remission, and decided to go back to work. It was then, after loosing a stone in weight and experiencing blackouts, extreme mood-swings and fevers he was told he was HIV-positive.

David felt: “relieved, actually, because [he’d] been given an answer as to why [he’d] been feeling so bad.” With a new zest for life, he enrolled in a foundation art course, and for a while “life was sweet”.

But then, David started to struggle once again. He was unable to afford his rent, and faced with homelessness he decided to take his own life outside a North London council office. Saved, for the first time, by members of the public he recovered and continued studying but was forced to live in his car.

David’s cancer returned, and still sleeping in his car through chemotherapy treatment, a tree missed his car by inches. That night he tried to take his life again, but was found by a warden and taken to The Pillion Trust, who got him back on his feet.

He was introduced to Cafe Art shortly after, who distribute camera’s to homeless people, allowing them to capture their own lives. David says it was this that gave him hope: “that little disposable camera saved my life” and through his success he has dedicated his life to try and help people who are in similar, difficult situations:

He explained:

“We all live in a disposable, throwaway society, and that is how homelessness is perceived. People always say to me ‘it must be amazing to be back in society’ but what they don’t realise is I never left. Homelessness is part of our society, and it’s always going to be there, if we don’t make changes.”

His show this weekend is not just about David’s journey and thanking all the people that have helped him, but also:

“to prove that a broken person can be successful if there’s a support network to help [them]…it show’s that you can rebuild your life… the show is to raise awareness of the problem of homelessness but to also prove that the homeless do have something to give to society.”

You can see more of David’s art here, or watch the show, which is in collaboration with the charity, Clothing The Homeless at London’s Southbank on Sunday.

Images courtesy of David Tovey.
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