“Moving” Terry Higgins Memorial Quilt goes on display in Sheffield showing today’s reality of living with HIV

A memorial quilt to celebrate the life of the first named person to die of an AIDS-related illness in the UK is on public display for the first time, at Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery.

The death of Terrence Higgins - known as Terry - in July 1982 sparked the creation of the Terry Higgins Trust, a charity which would alter the course of the HIV epidemic and save countless lives.

Becky, who is living with HIV and is from Sheffield, said: "That quilt is special. It shows today's reality of living with HIV, as well as celebrating Terry Higgins’ life.  

“It's very moving to look at them as someone who is living with HIV, knowing that when those people were diagnosed, it was a death sentence."

One panel on the quilt, which has a rich history in the context of creating and memorialising people during the HIV epidemic, reads "U=U" which means "undetectable equals untransmittable".

Taking medication for HIV suppresses the virus to the point where it is undetectable, which in turn means it cannot be transmitted to someone else in any way.

HIV is most commonly transmitted through sex. Less commonly, it can be transmitted through sharing needles (about two per cent of people living with HIV in the UK) or passed down to a child (only 1.6 per cent).

Becky, who is a service manager for HIV support service Skyline in Leeds, added: "When I found out, it was devastating news, because all I knew about HIV was that it killed. I thought I had done something to myself that was going to kill me.

"But, treatment suppresses it so much it can't be transmitted. It will never not work - even if you miss a pill, it's fine. You would have to stop for weeks or months to be detectable."

She has a 10-week old baby, who is negative, and she can still breastfeed without risk of transmission.

"Medication keeps me healthy and means I cannot pass HIV onto anyone else - I know that for sure, because I have two children and a great partner, who are all HIV negative. 

"I hope that people from across South Yorkshire and further afield come and learn about Terry Higgins, his life and, most importantly, the positive reality of HIV today."

The creation of a quilt to celebrate Terry was overseen by Rupert Whitaker OBE, who was Terry’s partner, and Martyn Butler who are the co-founders of Terrence Higgins Trust, along with Terry’s friends Linda Payan and Maxine Saunders. 

Eight panels on the quilt, which opened to the public on December 9, celebrate different aspects of Terry including being a Welshman, a gay man, and spending time in the Royal Navy. 

Two of the panels explore his working life as a Hansard reporter in Parliament, and his evenings spent as a DJ and barman in gay nightclub Heaven.

The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt is a huge piece of community art made up of 48 separate panels, which each comprise of eight smaller tributes to those lost during the AIDS crisis. 

They were often produced by the loved ones of those represented in each panel and to ensure they are never forgotten.

The Terry Higgins Memorial Quilt and panel 21 from the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display at Millenium Gallery for a year, highlighting contributions from Fine Cell Work, Combat Stress, Freeman College and the Yorkshire Speak Their Name Suicide Memorial Quilt.