Philadelphia: 15 Years Later

Back when the AIDS movie "Philadelphia" was being filmed, producers hired 53 extras to appear in various scenes. Granted, they were just bit parts. Some of them made it to the screen for mere seconds. But what made these roles noteworthy was that all of the actors were either HIV-positive or had AIDS. This was no accident. Director Jonathan Demme intentionally set out to include as many people with the virus as possible in the critically acclaimed movie. A group called Action AIDS provided the volunteers. No one was turned down. Now, 15 years later, every single one of those novice performers is dead - except one.

Suellen Kehler, 44, a former bank secretary who lives in the Northeast, is the lone survivor. If you watched the movie, you may have spotted the camera lingering on a petite Amerasian woman in one of the courtroom scenes. Or you might have heard her laugh during a scene at the clinic where Tom Hanks' character, a gay lawyer with the disease, gets treatment.

"It just seems like yesterday that I was in the movie. I'm so grateful to be around for the protease inhibitors," Keh-ler told the Philadelphia Enquirer in an interview "Unfortunately, so many other people in the movie weren't able to hang around long enough for the protease inhibitors." Since they were approved by the Food and Drug Administration more than a decade ago, protease inhibitors have become something of a miracle drug because they help those infected with HIV to live longer without developing AIDS. The drug's arrival meant that patients who had expected to die soon from the disease were living years longer than they dreamed they could back when they were first diagnosed.

Kehler, for example, was diagnosed on Nov. 15, 1989, after contracting the virus from a boyfriend who had used intravenous drugs. At the time of her diagnosis, Kehler thought that she was doomed, that maybe she had only a week to live. But she's still here. Low energy, sore muscles and join pain are constant companions. She also suffers from neuropathy and has a sciatica and herniated discs.To maintain her health, Kehler takes 25 pills a day. Her doctors have warned her not to miss any doses.

Even though Americans know more about the virus than they did back when "Philadelphia" hit the big screen, Kehler still finds herself explaining to a neighbor that it's not spread by mosquitoes. She also has to deal with the sadness of having family members nearby who don't want her around. Even though Kehler struggles with dark moments, she reminds herself of how lucky she is to still be alive after all of these years. "I need to be grateful because these people in the movie, 'Philadelphia,' wish they could be here," she said. "I can't believe I'm the only survivor from that movie." Courtesy Philadelphia Daily News.