Saul Silva: Silence, Survival and Scaffolding

HIV: The Morning After · Oct 30, 2026 · 40m

Content note: this episode discusses substance use, homelessness and a violent eviction.

In 2008, Saul Silva was diagnosed with HIV in Leeds, and told to keep it quiet. This episode follows the decade he spent running from that diagnosis, through homelessness and addiction in London, to becoming an advocate who helped build a widely used tool for disabled people applying for benefits.

Summary

Saul Silva was diagnosed with HIV in 2008, in Leeds, and told his restaurant manager that same evening. She laughed in his face and accused him of lying to get the weekend off. What followed was years of…