Charlotte Valandrey was infected with HIV when she was 18. She would have caught it during a relationship she had with a famous musician.
Charlotte Valandrey died at the age of 53, after a heart transplant which unfortunately was unsuccessful. HIV positive since the age of 18 and on triple therapy, she suffered a heart attack following her treatment which damaged her heart. She had received her first successful transplant, becoming the first HIV-positive person to receive a heart transplant. Charlotte Valandrey, however, had to return to the hospital in June 2022, to be transplanted a second time, because her last heart had arrived out of breath. An intervention that could not save her, she died on July 13.
Her illness, Charlotte Valandrey had chosen to reveal it to the public. It is through his autobiographical book, love in the blood, published in 2005 that she recounts the discovery of her contamination and the life she had to lead knowing that she was sick. “The reflex, at first, is to live in hiding with HIV. Never say anything to anyone (…) But I can only rebuild myself by telling the truth. I was contaminated by loving: it is not a fault”, had entrusted Charlotte Valandrey to the Express.
Talking about his illness in his book yes, but revealing the name of the person who potentially transmitted it to him, no way. “I will never say who he was. I will have problems…”, had blown the actress in an interview granted in 2016 to France Sunday.
“I forgive the person who infected me”
In her book, Charlotte Valandrey had only given a few clues about the man who could have transmitted the virus to her. In love in the blood, she quotes a “gothic prince” whom she had as a lover. It would be a guitarist of a famous rock band of the 1980s.
Some rumors then evoked his past relationship with Stéphane Sirkis, member of Indochina and brother of Nicola Sirkis. The musician died in 1999 of hepatitis C. However Nicola Sirkis has repeatedly denied his responsibility. Recalling that his brother had only a brief history with Charlotte Valandrey and that after that he founded a family which is in perfect health.
But the actress never sought to settle scores but rather to relieve herself and help those infected. His story serves as a catharsis. “I forgive the person who infected me”, assured Charlotte Valandrey.