Terry Higgins | |
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Born | Terrence Lionel Seymour Higgins[1] 10 June 1945 Pembrokeshire, Wales |
Died | 4 July 1982 London, England | (aged 37)
Known for | First 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]
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.
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 is dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV, promoting awareness of AIDS, and providing supportive services to people with the disease.