Terry Higgins

For other people named Terence Higgins, see Terence Higgins (disambiguation).
Terry Higgins

Terrence "Terry" 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]

Life

Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Higgins left Haverfordwest as a teenager due to feeling alienated by 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 disk 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 carinii pneumonia and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy on Sunday 4 July 1982.

Legacy

In his memory, Martyn Butler, Tony Calvert, and Dr. Rupert Whitaker (Higgins' partner) set up The Terry Higgins Trust (later renamed the Terrence Higgins Trust) in 1982,[2] dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV and promoting awareness of AIDS. Whitaker went on to study medicine and became a medical scientist working on HIV and AIDS related illness.

See also

References and sources

References
  1. 1 2 "Terrence Higgins' legacy, 30 years after death". Neil Prior, BBC News Wales, 5 July 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Howarth, Glennys, and Oliver Leaman. (2013). Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-136-91360-0.
Sources
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