Terry Higgins
Born
Terrence Lionel Seymour Higgins[1]

(1945-06-10)10 June 1945
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Died4 July 1982(1982-07-04) (aged 37)
London, England
Known forFirst British person known to die of AIDS

Terrence Lionel Seymour Higgins (10 June 1945 – 4 July 1982) was among the first people known to die of an AIDS-related illness in the United Kingdom.[2]

Life

Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Higgins left Haverfordwest as a teenager due to feeling alienated because of his sexuality.[2] He lived in London and worked as a Hansard reporter in the House of Commons during the day and as a nightclub barman and disc jockey in the evenings. He travelled to New York and Amsterdam as a DJ in the 1970s. Higgins collapsed at the nightclub Heaven while at work and was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital, London where he died of Pneumocystis pneumonia and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy on 4 July 1982.

Legacy

Martyn Butler,[3] Rupert Whitaker and Tony Calvert initiated the formation of the Terry Higgins Trust.[4] in 1982 with a group of concerned community-members and Terry's friends, including Len Robinson and Chris Peel;[5] it was dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV, promoting awareness of AIDS, and providing supportive services to people with the disease.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Terrence Higgins: A name that gave hope to those with HIV and AIDS". BBC News. 4 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Terrence Higgins' legacy, 30 years after death". Neil Prior, BBC News Wales, 5 July 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Prior, Neil (5 July 2012). "Higgins' legacy, 30 years later". BBC News.
  4. ↑ Howarth, Glennys & Oliver Leaman. (2013). Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-136-91360-0.
  5. ↑ "How it all began | Terrence Higgins Trust". www.tht.org.uk.

Bibliography

  • "Terrence Higgins" in Robert Aldrich & Garry Wotherspoon. (Eds.) Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History: From World War II to the Present Day, Volume 2. London: Routledge, 2001, pp. 187–188. ISBN 041522974X
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