HIV-positive doctor says his dog saved his life.

 

 Dr. Rob Garofalo pets his dog, Fred, at their home in Chicago. Garofalo, who is head of the adolescent medicine division at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, tested positive for the AIDS virus in 2010. He fell into a deep depression and credits Fred, a Yorkshire terrier, with bringing him back to life. Garofalo has since co-founded the "When Dogs Heal" photo project, which features HIV-positive people and their dogs. The exhibit opens in Chicago on Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Day, and in New York City on Dec. 3.

 "I couldn't afford myself the same compassion that I'd spent a career teaching other people to have," says Garofalo, who heads the adolescent medicine division at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. At first, he told almost no one about his HIV status — not even his own elderly mother, who sensed that her son was struggling mightily during a Christmas visit in 2010.

 "But I'm not exaggerating when I say that he saved my life," says Garofalo, who'd considered suicide after his HIV diagnosis.