I think it’s a reflection of the person that Liam was that there has been such a huge outpouring of emotion at the news of his passing. Liam was an ever-present character in the office in Oxford in my time at Oxfordshire CCG and such fun to be around. Liam and I shared a passion for both Star Wars and, in particular, football. We would spend what seemed like hours talking about the results of the weekend and the upcoming fixtures. We used to drive our respective line managers mad with the amount of time we’d spend talking about football! I would often enter the office with a smile on my face (being a Tottenham fan) on Monday morning if Arsenal had lost over the weekend, the girls in his team knowing exactly what was about to happen when I asked him how his weekend had gone, urging me not to provoke him. He took it well (ish) and gave plenty back in return of course with that smile on his face that we all came to love. One of most vivid memories of Liam, and something I will never forget, was the evening of the Oxfordshire CCG vs NHS England 5 a side football match. On a boiling summer evening the game came to an abrupt halt when, just as a corner was about to be taken, we noticed the NHS England goalie was lying in the back of his goal looking incredibly unwell. We panicked, with many of us not knowing what to do. Liam came jogging over and simply got to work. Liam, unbeknown to us all, being a former intensive care nurse, had the necessary training and coolness of thought to manage this grave emergency. Whilst we ran to fetch the defibrillator, Liam continued his life saving work. Needless to say, the game was cut short with an ambulance crew arriving to continue the efforts to restart the heart of our stricken colleague. It wasn’t until the next morning that we discovered that Liam’s efforts had saved the life of our opponent, and he never made a fuss about it. ‘I just did what I’m trained to do’ was his view on what had taken place – not that any of us saw it that way. That was Liam…. a fabulous human being, a professional and, in my eyes and those of everyone else that evening, a hero. That being said, we did agree that should we ever embark on more footballing adventures it would be a requirement of the match that Liam had to be playing, something I’m devastated we’ll never get to enact.

You weren’t just a colleague, Liam, you were a friend, and you will be sorely missed by all that had the fortune to know you x