Nightmare on Elm Street 2 star Mark Patton is gravely-ill in a Mexican hospital with AIDS.
Patton’s manager revealed the distressing news in a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds to transfer him to an American hospital for better treatment.
Patton, now 63, was diagnosed with HIV on his 40th birthday in 1999, and given just a year to live.
His boyfriend Murphy was killed by the disease in 1998. But advances in treatment pioneered in the 90s saw Patton outlive that grim prognosis – and he remained in reasonably good health, until now.
Patton, who has ‘been ill for quite some time now,’ was thought to have side effects of COVID-19, but his manager Peter Valderrama revealed Saturday that what Patton is dealing with is ‘quite clearly AIDS-related ailments,’ according to fundraiser.
Patton was 40 years old when he was diagnosed with HIV in 1999 and given just a year to live, he said in a recent Instagram post of the so-called ‘death sentence’. He is pictured in November
Mark Patton, who starred in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’ in the 1980s, revealed he is suffering from AIDS at a Mexico hospital where he needs help with medical bills
As of Saturday night, more than $27,000 had been raised for the actor’s medical expenses, surpassing the $18,000 goal listed on the GoFundMe account.
Patton has been living with his husband Hector Morales Mondragon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where they run an art gallery, but he remains a regular at horror conventions.
Patton starred as Jesse Walsh in the second installment of Nightmare on Elm Street in 1985, the one rare male leading protagonist of the film who faced Freddy Krueger. The other main characters of the Elm Street horror franchise were all female.
Patton had roles in other movies, including Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean’ with Cher in 1982 and ‘Family Possessions’ in 2016. And in 2019, he told his life story in the documentary ‘Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street.’
But recently, Patton has reportedly been forced to cancel several scheduled appearances, and now ‘has decided to release his news in the hopes that his community could help him,’ his manager Valderrama wrote on his behalf.
‘As his fans know very well, Mark takes his events very seriously and values any opportunity to meet with them in person- especially after the last few years with covid seriously crippling those opportunities.’
Mark was truly looking forward to this show for quite some time but sadly his health has taken a drastic turn for the worse.’
He has been ill for quite some time now- originally it was thought to be aftershocks of covid and some hefty infections that could potentially be tackled with care and rest. But now it is quite clearly AIDS related ailments that he is managing.
‘Mark is currently in a Mexican hospital where they speak very little English- and they are completely overcome with covid cases there,’ Valderrama wrote.
‘He needs to be transported to an American hospital down there where he can be receive more specialized care in a safer setting. For this, we humbly need to ask for help.’
It’s unclear how Patton ended up developing full-blown AIDS. HIV positive people who take their meds can remain in good health, but there is no cure for AIDS, and medication is the only way to stop HIV advancing into AIDS.
Patton starred as Jesse Walsh in the second installment of Nightmare on Elm Street in 1985
Patton also told his life story in the 2019 documentary ‘Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street.’ He was a regular at horror conventions, but was forced to cancel recent appearances
In his own statement released on the account page, Patton wrote:
‘I just want to be healthy and at home with family. I need to move to American Hospital in Mexico where they can give me the treatment I desperately need. The American Hospital is $300 dollars a day with nurses, doctors and meds. The Mexican hospital are overwhelmed with Covid and I am too compromised to remain here.
‘I have faced these medical challenges before and I know I have a lot of fight left in me- but the last few years have been crippling for me financially.
I have always lived month to month and I have been struggling with medical visits since October. If anyone is able to contribute it would mean a life saving option for me to be recovering in a place that can cater to my condition.’
The first reports of AIDS emerged in Los Angeles and New York in 1981.
Over the subsequent decade, the disease went on to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans, with stars including Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, Arthur Ashe, Liberace and Anthony Perkins among those whose lives it claimed.
Patients diagnosed during the early years of the epidemic almost always faced an agonizing death, because there were no treatments available.
Scientists unveiled effective treatments in 1995. The combination of anti-viral drugs dramatically reduced AIDS deaths, and now allow those who are HIV positive to achieve a near-normal life expectancy.
but it wouldn’t be until 1995 before doctors began successfully treating AIDS with a combination of drugs. There is still no cure, but with treatment, people can reduce the amount of the virus in their bodies.
