Flt Lt Ted Atkins
It is with extreme sadness that we report the death of our good friend and Air Cadet colleague Flt Lt Ted Atkins, who was tragically killed in the Dolomite mountains doing what he loved most of all, mountaineering.
Ted was an ex-RAF Officer who started out as a cadet with 2425 Squadron. Ted paid us regular visits over more than forty years, giving inspirational talks to our cadets, who loved hearing tales of his time as RAF Mountain Rescue leader, his stories of his daring expeditions on Everest and more recently his record-breaking skydiving activities.
Ted developed the TopOut oxygen system for climbers, skydivers and the military. This system dramatically reduced the number of deaths on Everest.
We will miss his impromptu visits and his enthusiasm for inspiring our young cadets. He will be sadly missed by us all and we send sincere condolences to Ted’s family.
Ted’s spirit and attitude to life could be summed up in one line from a recent interview he gave. “What do we leave behind, did we make anything better?”. He truly did.
