It was with shock and extreme sadness that we heard Henry had collapsed whilst running the marathon.

We first met Henry when he was at kindergarten with our daughter Emma and an enduring memory is of Emma’s 4th birthday party, where Henry was the sole male representative among a clutch of young girls. Clearly a very popular chap from an early age.

We enjoyed a number of holidays abroad with the Ayletts. On a particular one when Henry was around 14, we chartered a sailing yacht in the Ionian.  The mums were not enthusiastic about living on board and stayed in a villa whilst Henry, his dad Nick, my daughter and I sailed around Kefalonia, Ithaca and the neighbouring islands for a week.  I don’t think Henry was overwhelmed by moving at speeds of less than 7 knots and spent a lot of the time on his walkman. I recall one very special night moored in a cove off Kefalonia where we lay for a long time chatting and staring up at a cloudless sky full of stars including many shooting ones, Henry in the bow with his dad, and Emma in the stern with myself.  It was just an idyllic natural setting for parent child bonding.

We will remember Henry as warm and friendly with a sharp sense of humour, an all round lovely guy, a son of whom any parent would be immensely proud, tragically taken much too soon.       

Our sincere condolences go out to Kate and the boys and to the Aylett family.