A former RAF firefighter who died from cancer just minutes after his wife and kids arrived to say their last goodbyes is to be given the first full fire service funeral in decades. Harry Spence, 60, lost his year-long fight with oesophageal cancer last month, two weeks after being told that the disease had spread despite undergoing surgery and chemotherapy to fight it off report the Record.
The firefighter, who was based at Leuchars in Fife for his entire career, will be cremated and his ashes scattered on Glencoe alongside those of dad William, late brother Cameron, 57, and his beloved rescue dog Gus. Harry's cancer was diagnosed in August 2021, prompting a spur-of-the-moment trip to Skye to marry Marti, his partner of 12 years.
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Wife Marti tearfully recalled: "The night before Harry died I slept with him in the hospital bed. He had lost so much weight at that point that I could climb onto the bed with him. He had his arm around me.
"I'm not the religious type, but I went to the chapel to pray. Everyone had been to see him, and we had all said what we wanted to say.
"I said to him, 'if you need to go, you can go.' His son Robert just made it in time, and it's like he knew. He was gone at about 7pm.
"I think he was thinking Gus was going to be there waiting for him, and his dad, and his brother. It was less than two weeks after getting diagnosed again so we never had the chance to process it.
"There was 19 years between us and we couldn't have been more opposite - but I think that's why we worked so well. He never pretended to be anything he wasn't. We all miss him, so much."
His September 14 service is believed to be the first for a serving fireman at the Fife base in decades, with a fire engine following the hearse to the crematorium. Harry - hailed as "one of a kind" - will be carried in by his fellow firefighters and the chief officer will read the Firefighter's Prayer, a special lament for fallen comrades.
It will conclude the extraordinary life of the grandad, who delivered his own daughter on the bathroom floor and found time in between fighting fires to co-found a marine safety voluntary group and volunteer with a water animal rescue organisation. He even rubbed shoulders with stars as a safety advisor on Call the Midwife and Scarlett Johannsson sci-fi flick Under the Skin.
His brother Iain said of the funeral arrangements: "It's never been done, as far as I know - it's unprecedented. I was speaking to a SATCO (senior air traffic controller) who said it was really something."
His death also highlights the risks firefighters expose themselves to on the frontline - and the ill effects they suffer after a lifetime of working in toxic environments. The Fire Brigades Union estimates that firefighters are four times more likely to develop conditions such as cancer.
Iain, who also served as a Leuchars firefighter, believes his brother has joined the legions of other blaze-tacklers who succumbed to a early death because of their profession. He added: "It's just not fair. Crash firefighters, who had three minutes to respond to a fire on the runway, would have to sleep in their uniforms that are damp and coated with who knows what.
"And station managers used to look down on us if we stopped to put on breathing apparatus. It's too late for Harry - he's another statistic now. But he was one of the very best of us."
Born in Irvine to Blanche and William, Harry moved across the world with his dad's work in the RAF 22nd Search and Rescue squadron. He settled in Leuchars and completed an apprenticeship in smithing before joining the then-Air Force Department Fire Service in 1984.
In between having son Robert, 39, and daughter Helen MacLeod, 36, Harry carried out odd jobs for locals and was a regular sight on the runway, refusing offers of promotions to desk jobs. His family says he was at his happiest when training with German shorthaired pointer rescue dog Gus, whose ashes will be scattered alongside his following the funeral.
His shotgun wedding to long-term love Marti was marked with her completing a half-marathon race in a "Bride To Be" t-shirt and white tutu before they made their vows before family. They celebrated with a trip to the chippy.
In a bid to beat his illness, Harry had his oesophagus removed and underwent chemotherapy, but in early August it was discovered that the disease had spread. Less than a fortnight later he suffered a series of strokes that would ultimately prove fatal, and died at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on August 23 with his family by his side.
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Navy son Robert arrived to say his last goodbyes with half an hour to spare after driving non-stop from Portsmouth, where he serves on board the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier as a weapons engineer.
The tragedy compounded an already difficult year for Harry's family, who had lost his younger brother Cameron to a heart attack linked to the lung condition, COPD, in 2021. Dad William also died relatively young, at 64, several years prior.
Daughter Helen added: "I'm sure he knew we were all there. I think he would've had a sense of it. He was stroking up and down Marti's arm as she lay beside him."
Harry is survived by Marti, kids Helen and Robert, step-daughter Skye, five grandchildren and his siblings Iain and Helen. His service will take place at 4pm on September 13 at Brewsterwells Crematorium, St Andrews.
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