Tower and Town, May 2019

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Family News

David Collins was appointed head of St Peter’s Junior School in 1965, 3 years after the Grammar School moved out and St Peter’s became the first junior school for boys and girls. Several of his staff went on to headships and he was very proud of having set up the special needs class. He retired to enjoy his hobbies, DIY, wine-making and art. He died recently, aged 92. A thanksgiving service was held in Malmesbury Abbey on March 19th. We send our sympathy to his family: Sue, Robert, Geraldine and Adrian, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Alec Thomas has lived in Marlborough since 1978. Married to Elizabeth, they have one daughter, Sara-Jayne, who works as a community nurse in the town.

For Alec, the Church has always been a refuge from the pressures of life and the business environment. His busy career as an agronomist meant that he spent much of his time in the open air, exposed to the elements. Lack of sun protection resulted in a diagnosis of Advanced Stage 4 Melanoma in 2016. This was operated on but then it was discovered that the cancer had moved to the right lung. Alec admitted, “I decided in my own mind, ‘I will go and see my Mum and Dad in heaven and my family will join me later’.”

He was given 6 months to live with the option of going on a clinical trial at Oxford using a new unproven immunotherapy technique. Only 40% of the population has the correct T cells to be able to participate in this therapy. He decided to take part.

The treatment not only had a significant effect on the cancer but also on the adrenal, thyroid and pituitary glands. He lost a dangerous amount of weight. When his wife and daughter took him to Oxford to seek advice he was so weak that he could only just manage to climb up the stairs to the oncology department and could not even carry a newspaper. It was discovered that he lacked cortisol. This was rectified and within 5 hours he was back to normal. Latest scans show that the cancer is withering and he has no need to go back for at least 9 months.

Throughout this time, Alec never missed a night’s sleep. The car parking situation caused him more worry than the cancer. He gives thanks for the incredible work carried out by the doctors and nurses in the Churchill Hospital oncology department and for his family, faith, rugby club and friends, especially fellow church parishioners, who have supported him during this difficult episode.

Alec’s associates have described him as ‘LUCKY’. He does not believe in the word, “I know there is a Greater Power looking after me.”

Ann Johnson’s daughter Becky Millar is in Liberia with ‘Life For African Mothers’. She and two colleagues are voluntarily training local midwives who, Becky says, work very hard for little or no pay, contending with drug shortages, power cuts and poverty. Despite this, they continue to attend the courses with great enthusiasm. We wish Becky strength and protection.

Jessy Pomfret