Terry Higgins

Terrence Higgins (10 June 1945 – 4 July 1982) was among the first people known to die of an AIDS-related illness in the United Kingdom.[1]

Terry Higgins

Life

Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Higgins left Haverfordwest as a teenager due to feeling alienated because of his sexuality.[1] 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 Sunday 4 July 1982.

Legacy

In his memory, Martyn Butler[2] and Rupert Whitaker (Higgins' partner) and Terry's close friend Tony Calvert initiated the formation of the Terry Higgins Trust (later renamed the Terrence Higgins Trust)[3] in 1982 with a group of concerned community-members and Terry's friends, including Len Robinson and Chris Peel [4]; it was dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV, promoting awareness of AIDS, and providing supportive services to people with the disease.

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See also
  • Timeline of early AIDS cases

References and sources
References
  1. "Terrence Higgins' legacy, 30 years after death". Neil Prior, BBC News Wales, 5 July 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. Prior, Neil (5 July 2012). "Higgins' legacy, 30 years later" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. Howarth, Glennys & Oliver Leaman. (2013). Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-136-91360-0.
  4. "How it all began | Terrence Higgins Trust". www.tht.org.uk.
Sources
  • "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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