I am so very sorry to hear of Healey's death. My thoughts are with his family. I met Healey and Mildred when I was at sea with my husband, and always appreciated his kindness and thoughtfulness, always looking after Mildred and I especially when we went ashore, making sure we had enough spending money and an umbrella. So many very happy memories. Mildred and Healey are together now, God bless them both. With my deepest sympathy Joy (nee Lillis) xx
Saturday 25 January 2025
Joy (nee Lillis) Chesterfield England
Captain Healey Martin was responsible for the largest peacetime rescue at sea: in 1979 over one thousand Vietnamese refugees were rescued from two boats about to sink in the China Sea. The Hong Kong government having refused to grant the refugees asylum, Captain Martin remained in port until the British government agreed to take them. I was one of those boat people, and was delighted finally to meet Healey in Dungannon in 2019, where he was well cared for in a nursing home during his final years. He was a man of great intelligence and charm, and I will always be profoundly grateful for the chance of a new life that he gave me. May he rest in peace.
Saturday 04 January 2025
Ann Bates (nee Pham), Essex