Friends pay tribute to humanitarian Tony
When chartered surveyor Tony Baldwin was given six months to live, he knew he wanted to do something to help others in his last days.
Mr Baldwin, who was left in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke 12 years ago, was diagnosed with adrenal cancer in December.
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He died last month aged 55, but not before he set about raising money to build wheelchairs for the disabled in Kenya.
He heard about the project at a disability lunch group he attended in Cheltenham and together they began to raise money for Bombolulu.
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Lindsey Tait-Bailey, who leads the group, said: "When Tony was diagnosed he immediately started to plan how he could use his time to raise more money and organised a raffle at his line-dance club, which raised more than £120 for the charity – enough to pay for a chair to be built.
"It went to a young boy of about 10 who had always had to crawl as he couldn't walk and his parents could not afford a chair for him.
"Tony was so moved when he saw a photo of the boy being given the chair, his ear-to-ear grin and being able to get around properly."
When Mr Baldwin, from Gloucester, died last month, his friends from line-dancing group Just 4 Fun were determined to do something in his memory, and held a charity line-dance on the day of his funeral, raising enough money for seven wheelchairs.
"They wanted to support a cause that was so close to Tony's heart," added Ms Tait-Bailey. "Throughout his illness Tony was cheerful and full of fun and laughter. He used to say to me: 'Yesterday gone, tomorrow, who knows, but today good so be happy – enjoy'.
"Despite life having dealt him a cruel blow of having a stroke at such an early age and then being told he had terminal cancer, he never felt sorry for himself and just focused on what he could do in the time he had left. Tony taught our group more about living when he was dying than I thought possible – he was a truly good man who believed in living life to the full."
Comments
by SandraPee
Friday, September 14 2012, 9:23AM
“Tony was indeed a great guy , and always willing to help others . I met him when we were both on the committee of a local support group for those with speech difficulties . He was ''up'' for trying anything and his courage and determination always shone through . He'll be sadly missed by an awful lot of people .”