THE TERRENCE HIGGINS TRUST
Against all odds
Dr Rupert Whitaker and Martyn Butler are the heroes of the trust that changed the lives of people with HIV and Aids
Words Alastair James
LIFE SAVER:
Dr Rupert Whitaker
Photography Markus Bidaux
Terrence “Terry” Higgins died on 4 July 1982. He was one of the first people in the UK to die from an Aids-related illness. But his death ignited the flame that became the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), which has spearheaded advances in the care and treatment of people living with HIV. Those last three words being the most important — people with HIV can live as long as someone who doesn’t have it, thanks to work of the Trust (and others). In an acknowledgement of this, its founders, Dr Rupert Whitaker (pictured opposite) and Martyn Butler, were recently awarded an OBE each for their services to charity and public health.
Naturally, the Trust’s story begins with the man in whose memory it was founded. Butler, 68, met Higgins, a fellow Welshman, in Soho after Butler moved to London at 16 and got a job with the film studio Warner Bros in Leicester Square. He and Higgins bonded over their mutual love of music and clubbing.