As a teen in Oxfordshire, England, 70 year-old Terry Latham excelled in sports. “I was tall and tough,” he recalls with a grin. “I played rugby. I was fast. I set all kinds of records. Looking back, sports saved me.”From 1948 to 1959, Terry lived and attended school at the Kingham Hill School Orphanage, a place that valued basic survival skills. He both avoided and ended many a scrape, thanks in part to his strength and cunning. He learned that bullys were simply cowards with brawn and once he overcame his fears they were just another bump in the road.
Since childhood Terry has honed his mind and body to deal with external threats. Through his 60s and 70s, he continued to exercise with near religious devotion. Recently, Terry was introduced to a bully of another kind. One not so easy to duck, dodge or knock down.
On March 22, 2010, with a simple, yet profound, “I’m sorry” from his pulmonologist, Terry and his lovely wife, Mary, were told that he had malignant pleural mesothelioma. What began as an annoying cough worsened until it was affecting him all the time, “I sing deeply (and “beautifully” added Mary!), but started coughing on the high notes,” explained Terry. “I began feeling a lot of pressure in my chest.” Click here for the rest of the story.
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