We remember and honour Jill Fairweather who passed away on 26 May 2024.  As a co-founder of the Aspergillosis Trust Support Group and later the charity, Jill dedicated her life to supporting sufferers all over the world.  Her empathy for others was limitless and the impact she had on their lives has been demonstrated this week in the outpouring of condolences we have received from around the world and the aspergillosis community.

Jill was diagnosed with allergic asthma as a child and later was diagnosed with ABPA, this lead to her getting bronchiectasis and eventually Aspergilloma. Later in life she also had to battle with diabetes, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.   She never let any of these conditions define her but instead when she had to retire as she was getting too many infections she decided to dedicate herself to not only helping others but to raising awareness of the hidden and life changing disease Aspergillosis.  As a patient of The Royal Brompton Hospital since the 1980s she had access to a network of Doctors and medical scientists and she worked tirelessly with them to create a community that was able to both educate and support patients around the world.  She was instrumental in creating the website (www.aspergillosistrust.org) and in setting up the charity Aspergillosis Trust and creating patient information leaflets.  She worked with many different patient organisations advocating for aspergillosis patients and raising awareness.  Her tireless efforts both within the public arena, the patient networks and within the medical world have left an indelible mark that is far reaching.

Jill was happily married to Martin and despite her illnesses they had a wonderful life that she would often blog about.  She loved her family dearly and would often talk about visits from her nephews.  Most of these visits usually involved cake, one of Jill’s favourite things, after family and music. Jill was very grateful to all the friends she made through her illness.  Some of them fellow sufferers and some of them carers but all of them very important to her.

Jill’s dream was to make the world a better place for those affected by aspergillosis, she achieved that and more.  Rest in peace Jill and we hope wherever you are there is cake!