AIDS, THE LOST VOICES
In a series of child first’s, we hear the emotional accounts from brave parents who sadly lost their child to AIDS.
Irene, a mother who only learned she was HIV positive days before delivering twins discovers she only passed HIV to one of her twins. Doctors said only one of the twins contracting HIV was an “amazingly unusual case” and said to be a ‘first’. We also hear the story of one-year-old Antony Thorpe who was the first child in the UK to die due to AIDS after receiving contaminated blood in America when he was born 14 week premature.
And Eileen and Billy Quirk share how their 10-year-old son Stephen Quirk, was the first child living with haemophilia to die of an AIDS-related death after receiving contaminated blood products in the UK.
IN ORDER OF PODCAST EPISODE - CLICK TO ENLARGE (OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)
LITTLE ONE: Antony Thorpe
BABY ANTONY John Thorpe was born on 6 August 1983 to parents Gerald and Jennifer Thorpe. Antony’s arrival came premature while the couple were on a business trip in Washington, USA. Born premature Antony had heart issues and needed several blood transfusions which is how little Antony contracted HIV. Over a year after returning home to Burgess Hill, Sussex, Antony then started falling ill. Parents Gerald and Jenifer only learned little Antony was suffering effects of the AIDS virus.
Antony was admitted to a hospital in Brighton before being moved to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, 3 weeks before Antony sadly lost his life in April 1985 due to pneumonia.
Little Antony Thorpe was the first child in the United Kingdom to pass as a result of the AIDS virus.
We reached out to Mr Thorpe across various platforms although, to date, we have not had a response.
STEPHENS: School photo 6 weeks before his death
SMILING STEPHEN Joseph Quirk was born on 21 May 1987 in Liverpool to parents William ‘Billy’ & Eileen Quirk. After the birth of his little sister Jennifer Quirk in 1982 the family moved to Colwyn Bay, Wales.
Stephen lived with hemophilia where his blood was unable to clot meaning he was prone to spontaneous bleeding. Treating the condition with Factor 8, contaminated with the HIV/AIDS virus was how Stephen contracted HIV/AIDS. After being admitted to hospital with oral thrush Stephen sadly passed due to AIDS-related complications on 19 December 1986.
Stephen was the first hemophiliac child to pass as a result of HIV/AIDS.
IRENE: Newspaper photograph 1987
IRENE MUIR Forsyth was a lassie born on 1st April 1964 in Leith, Edinburgh. Her mother Mary Rodgers Muir was a bus escort (conductor) and her father was William Ian Heron Forsyth, a hospital boilerman who predeceased his wife and daughter. Irene only learned that she was HIV positive when she was due to give birth to twins in 1986. Irene openly shared that she suspects she may have contracted HIV through having previously been a drug user.
TWINS: Kerry (left) and Kim (right)
With the arrival of twins in 1986, I assume their births were registered in the order of their delivery, Kerry Elizabeth Forsyth [Register #386] and Kim Julie Forsyth [Register #387] in the port district of Leith, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. The twins underwent various tests and 14 months after their birth it was determined that Kim was HIV negative, while Kerry was HIV positive.
Irene shared in her account to The People newspaper, accompanied with headshots of the family taken by the newspaper’s photographer. That her partner ‘David’ was also HIV positive.
Irene sadly passed away on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 1996 at 5pm. Aged only 32, Irene died at Milestone House, Edinburgh - an AIDS hospice which opened in 1991.
Irene’s cause of death was certified as Broncophnemonia, which was common as an AIDS related complication. The second cause of death was certified as eEncephalitis, where the brain becomes swollen. In AIDS patients this presents itself more often as a form of dementia. Irenes mother Mary registered her daughter’s death on 3 January 1997 before arranging the cremation on 9th January 1997 after a service in Edinburgh.
And without a surname for ‘David’ it is hard to establish how life panned out for him. However, despite the reporter of The People newspaper casting imminent death upon HIV-positive twin Kerry Elizabeth. It was surprising yet warming to find that both twins are still alive today.
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