How Taimur aced his final Men’s Day Out in spirit

27th March 2025

Taimur’s fundraising mission for Men’s Day Out

Taimur Huq was a man who lived life to the full and inspired countless people to do the same. Not even a terminal diagnosis and being reliant on an oxygen tank 24 hours a day stopped him setting and achieving new goals.

An enthusiastic and loyal champion of St Luke’s Men’s Day Out for the past ten years, the former Maths teacher and outdoor education mentor was determined to take part in last weekend’s charity walk through the city, even though he would need to ride on his mobility scooter.

Sadly, Tay died just six days before the flagship annual event, but the success of his mission to raise funds so that others can experience the compassionate care St Luke’s offered him and his family during the last months of his life has now gone way beyond his wildest dreams.

In tribute to Tay

This weekend the amount raised for St Luke’s on Tay’s Men’s Day Out JustGiving page – in memory of his brother Tareq, who died in February 2024, as well as his aunties Christine, Mary and Margo – reached a terrific total of more than £12,000. His original target was just £500.

And although Tay couldn’t be there to join the 2,500-strong Men’s Day Out crowd in person, his can-do spirit was strongly felt all along the route. Extended family members, including Taylor, his son-in-law, Taylor’s dad Tony, and his nephew Max, plus friends and colleagues who would all have been walking alongside him, took it in turns to ride Tay’s “chariot” along the city’s streets while wearing his favourite Tribute woolly hat and letting his football supporter teddy bear Johnny Everton hitch a lift.

An immense sense of pride

“They broke the mould when they made Tay,” said Tony. “He was a lovely guy who always made you feel welcome and wanted to know about you. He was very unselfish.”

On hand to see the walking party off from Plymouth Albion rugby ground last Saturday were Tay’s wife, Tristin, his daughters, Asia, Mae and Tanya, his baby granddaughter Goldie, and friends from as far afield as London. Unfortunately his eldest daughter Becky was unable to make it.

It was an emotional send-off and there was an immense sense of pride in all Tay’s achievements, not just in supporting St Luke’s, but in the way he touched and influenced so many people’s lives over the years.

Tristin said: “Tay was a wonderful man, father of four daughters and grandfather of four boys and one girl. He wanted to give back and would do anything to help people achieve what they wanted. He loved Men’s Day Out and getting together with everyone, and he always encouraged the whole community to take part. Every year I would wave him off with all the other wives and girlfriends, then we’d meet up at the end to watch the rugby.

“If he was here today, he would be on his ‘chariot’ and he would be amazed by the amount of money raised and the support – it would mean everything to him to see it.”

Devonport High School for Boys

Among the supporters donating to Tay’s JustGiving page were some of the hundreds of pupils Tay taught during his 17 years as a Maths teacher at Devonport High School for Boys in Plymouth where he also led the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme and Ten Tors expeditions. Comments on the page are filled with thanks and acknowledgements of the positive influence Tay’s interest and encouragement had on young people’s schooldays and their futures.

Daughter Asia said: “Some of the comments they left really made him feel he had made a difference. I think those messages helped keep him going.”

St Luke’s community team

In February 2023 after contracting Covid and being hospitalised with two bouts of pneumonia, Tay was diagnosed with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Three months later his ill health forced him to retire from the teaching profession he loved, a second career he took up in 2006 following 16 years as an electronics engineer with city company Plessey.

Last October the family had to face the devastating news that Tay was approaching the end of his life and that’s when St Luke’s community team became involved, with Sonja Pritchard as his Clinical Nurse Specialist.

She was at Plymouth Albion for Men’s Day Out and met up with Tay’s family.

“Today he really wanted to reach this milestone and raise funds for St Luke’s who looked after both him and his brother. Sadly he didn’t make it. When I found out that news, I was very emotional,” said Sonja.

“Looking after someone like Taimur is a privilege and makes me feel really lucky to do what I do. He was such an awesome man. He carried on living his life, which is what we encourage and want people to do. He went to a concert with his children and had time away and that was really important to him. It was a real pleasure to come and see him, but he would often be off out and about somewhere!”

He felt safe at home and could carry on living

It meant the world to Taimur being able to stay at home to receive care. Tristin said: “He felt safe at home and could carry on living. He knew he had everything around him. St Luke’s have been brilliant, providing him with the equipment he needed and on the end of the phone for any questions or problems.”

The family have always been outdoorsy, enjoying camping, the beach, holidays and weekends away, and Tay was a regular at his local pub, the Tap and Barrel at Mannamead.

Last year Tay and Tristin managed to enjoy several trips, some as a couple and some with the family, including Lanzarote, Turkey, Portugal, France and England. Before Christmas he fulfilled his long-held ambition to go on a cruise with Tristin, taking in Antwerp and Amsterdam. And the week before he died he visited his daughter and baby granddaughter in West Cornwall.

“People would say to him, you’re not well, but you’re going to the pub and going on holiday, but he wanted to do things, and he wasn’t going to stop,” said Tristin. “I know he felt less afraid at the end, and that was down to Sonja and St Luke’s. Even when we were in the middle of the sea on the cruise, he could phone Sonja and ask her a question.”

Daughter Asia added: “Sonja was a safe space for Dad. He could be honest with her about how scared he was, and he was able to keep his dignity. Mum and Mae were his full-time carers and St Luke’s took a lot of the pressure away. We had so much support for the family. Sonja would answer any questions we wanted to ask.”

Tay moved to England from Bangladesh with his family when he was nine years old and he grew up in Liverpool, becoming an avid Everton fan. He also loved rugby and passed his passion on to the whole family.

Never forgotten

On the day before he died, Tay fulfilled his ambition to watch all three Six Nations rugby games on the big screen at the Tap and Barrel.

“He had a fantastic time and then he died the next day,” said Tristin. “In his mind he would have liked to go at home, but it was not to be. He was at Derriford Hospital. We were all there with him – his four daughters and two of his sons-in-law, plus his ex-wife, and his best friend Paul who he had known since he was nine.”

Sonja expressed her thanks to Tay and his family on behalf of St Luke’s.

“We are incredibly grateful to Taimur and to his family, friends, colleagues and former pupils for carrying on this very special man’s amazing Men’s Day Out tradition and helping to raise an incredible amount in his honour to support other local families who need the compassionate care St Luke’s provides. He will never be forgotten.”

Taimur’s JustGiving page Men’s Day Out

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