Magic Johnson’s wife, Cookie, feared for her own life and her unborn baby when she got “traumatic” news her NBA star husband was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. “The scariest part for me was not knowing if I had it,” she said at an awards dinner for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation on Wednesday. “Then, that week I found out I was pregnant, so I didn’t know if my baby had it . . . back then you had to wait at least 10 days to find out what your test results were, so that was traumatic.” Cookie and her child tested negative, but, “I still had to worry about my husband.” Magic, absent from the event to attend the funeral of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, has remained healthy since his diagnosis. “The earlier you find out and get medication, you can live a long healthy life,” Cookie said, adding Magic wasn’t sick at the time and only “found out through a test for [an] insurance company.”
How Magic Johnson’s wife Cookie dealt with husband’s HIV diagnosis
