In Memory of Patrick Laver

Name: Patrick Laver Age: 28 Occupation: Freelance photographer Place of Birth: Kent, England Date of Birth: 24th October, 1977 Hair: Long, dark Eyes: Hazel Height: 5’11’’ Weight: 149 Ibs Distinguishing features: None Hobbies: Photography, travelling, amateur dramatics, history (particularly natural and art), jazz and blues music, plays the piano. Languages: English, French, Italian Family: Mother, Helena Laver, deceased. Father, Unknown. Aunt (adoptive mother), Alice Ellington. Uncle (adoptive father), James Ellington. Older Cousin (adoptive brother), Anthony Ellington. Older Cousin (adoptive brother), Harry Ellington. Older Cousin (adoptive sister), Louise Ellington. Seat: 12 D

History: Despite being warned against having children, when Helena Laver found out she was pregnant with a son of a young man who had quickly disappeared on the news, she decided to have the child rather than have an abortion, a risky procedure in its own right. Helena died in childbirth, but her sister easily took the baby in to her own family, calling him Patrick. Patrick was raised in a warm and loving, but modest home in Kent, England, his Aunt Alice and her husband having to provide for their own three children as well as Patrick...yet they always managed to make ends meet. He attended school without objection, and despite struggling in chemistry and maths, he excelled in English Literature and Language, as well as Drama, Geography and Biology.

It was in his late teenage years that he developed a passion for photography, and after three courses in the art, he saved up for his own good quality camera. He was thrilled when he managed to get it, eagerly taking and developing as many pictures as he could, quickly learning to edit his own group of pictures to find the best ones. He focussed mainly on the coastal and rural areas, taking pictures of both the landscape and the wildlife. It was with a considerable amount of nervousness that he sent a few of his pictures off to various magazines. It was six months later that he got a reply and a cheque for £50 for one of them. He was so excited that he was determined that he could make a living from his passion. It was a slow building business, but as his pictures became more used in various nature and wildlife publications, word of mouth built his popularity. He remained a freelance photographer, but was hired more and more by publications to go to the more unusual places to seek out the best pictures of extreme and wild environments, be it Antarctica or the Sahara. It was through this work with landscape and wildlife that he became involved with environmentalists who called for better care to be taken of the environment and wildlife. He became an active campaigner for animal rights and was often seen at protests against developing houses or roads on natural landscapes or the inappropriate dumping of waste.

It was at the age of 25 that things would change for him forever. He got home from a rehearsal for a play he was in and listened to the messages on the answerphone. His girlfriend, Jane, of six months had left a message on it saying that they had HIV. He never saw or heard from her again. He booked himself in to be tested, both scared and confused. The test showed that she had indeed given him HIV. He spent a few months to himself, adjusting to the news and the massive amounts of medical information he was fed by a very patient and kind doctor who made sure he had everything he needed to know. It was only then that he told his family. His aunt was devastated, but quickly became a strong, reassuring and supporting woman for him to go to when he needed.

He started to get his life back on track, continuing his campaigning and protests, seeking out even more extreme adventures to capture images for publication, and even found time for his amateur dramatics that he loved being involved in. He had gone to Tokyo to capture some images of the older style of culture that still remained there before taking the missing plane to Seattle to meet with a publisher.

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