SOME people go through life just marking the passing years. Others make a real difference.

Professor Terry Hamblin’s life didn’t just impact on those close to him. He touched the lives of people far and wide, both through his work as a world-renowned researcher battling to find more more effective ways of treating cancer and through his sheer humanity. He was a force for good.

It is, perhaps, sadly ironic that such a pioneer battler against cancer finally succumbed to his old enemy. But his work will live on as well as a reputation that was unmatched in our region.

When the Echo ran a competition to name a new road through the Castle- point development eight years ago, there was one clear winner. Call it Hamblin Way, readers demanded.

“Normally you have to be dead to have a road named after you,” said Terry Hamblin, grinning at the opening.

He was a man, in so many ways, ahead of his time, who will be greatly missed. We salute his memory.