Thomas Birch

[tjmack]

This is an unusual one, but it shows the sense of community that we have here.

Whilst doing a bit of perusing here and there a few days ago, Goldenband (Phil) was reminded of a young man, Thomas Birch, a visitor of several sites including Yeeshkul and TTD.. Phil came across one of Thomas' last posts here way back in 2010:

http://yeeshkul.com/forum/showthread...st-gen-reel%29

in which he mentioned that he was a young man seriously ill with cystic fibrosis. He had a heart-lung transplant earlier in his life and unfortunately his second set of lungs were starting to fail too.

Out of a sense of duty and comradeship Phil decided to follow-up that post in order to find out what happened to Thomas. After some detective work and contacting Thomas' father Ian, Phil was sadly, but unsurprisingly, informed that Thomas did indeed die back in January 2012.

So Thomas, it might be several years late, but Shine On, young man. You will not be forgotten.

And many thanks to Phil for caring enough to seek him out.

T.

[goldenband]

Thanks very much for posting this, T. I was definitely struck by Thomas's good spirit in the face of adversity and his obvious intellect and warmth.

One small bright spot -- if you can call it that -- is that the end apparently came quite suddenly, within 24 hours, while Thomas was still active and about. His father (whose note to me was very kind) said his family was thankful that Thomas didn't have to go through another long hospitalization.

He also expressed appreciation for the way Thomas's friends in music, here and elsewhere, helped him. (If you go looking online, there's a very funny exchange between Thomas and Eddie Vedder!)

Cystic fibrosis is a terrible disease, and yet many who have it seem to be especially bright and kind souls. May a cure be found someday soon, so that we might longer enjoy their friendship. Shine on indeed!

[Homerpax]

SORRY to hear of his passing,way to young to go,may he SHINE ON!

[oldpink]

Well played, Goldenband.
Sad to hear that he didn't make it, but at least it was merciful at the end.

[HourCandle]

Thank you, TJ and goldenband, for following up on this and getting to learn and tell us the (ugly) truth. I think this is one of those special places on Y! where we can remember those that have had to leave us.

Shine on, Thomas!


Piet

[LGT]

Thomas taught me much about checking for commercial material during my early time on lossless sites.
Kind, patient, intelligent, humorous, a truly wonderful man, all describe Thomas from my perspective. He never seemed angry nor apologetic over his fate. He shared hopefulness about the second transplant, as shown in this comment:

http://yeeshkul.com/forum/showthread.php?10940-Pink-Floyd-Offenbach-Stadthalle-26-02-1971-%28master-cass_1st-gen-reel%29
Thank you, Marbal. As to jealousy, I can't decide if I'm jealous that I wasn't born to attend these shows, or smug because it means I probably have about twenty or thirty years longer left to live than you!


Shine on, dear Thomas, and may the Good Lord shine a light on you.
You are warmly recalled and not forgotten.

[nutzrocker]

I've only just seen this thread.

I remember thomas, we were Mods on another tracker years ago. We did a bit of trade by post too.

Lost touch as many of us do. I knew of Thomas's illness so I pressumed the worst when I heard nothing for a long time.

To see it in print for real is still very sad to read. One thing that sticks in my mind and mentioned by others is that he never complained or felt sorry for himself in any way, a lesson for us all.

So sad to read this even if deep down I already knew.

RIP my friend.

[buffalofloyd]

I'm a bit late here. I didn't see this thread until just now but I do remember this young fellow posting several times. Sad to read another member has passed away. May you Shine On wherever you are. Here's to you good sir