Terrence Higgins

Terrence Higgins (1945–1982), known as Terry Higgins, was one of the first people in the UK to die of an AIDS-related illness.

Terry Higgins was born in Haverfordwest in 1945, but left for London as a teenager as he felt uncomfortable growing up as a gay man in west Wales. He worked as a Hansard reporter in the House of Commons and as a barman in the nightclub Heaven. He collapsed while working at Heaven and was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital, London where he died on 4 July 1982.

In Terry's memory Martyn Butler, Tony Calvert and Terry's boyfriend Rupert Whitaker set up The Terry Higgins Trust (later renamed the Terrence Higgins Trust or THT), dedicated to preventing the spread and promoting awareness of HIV. Whitaker went on to study medicine and became a medical scientist working on HIV and AIDS related illness.