[Alycidon]

Sad to report that Ian Wilson, aka vermincinerator here has sadly passed away after a series of medical problems.

A toolmaker by trade Ian was a very highly skilled rifle smith and made several highly accurate single shot wildcats for UK Firearms dealers and himself. At 38 he had to retire on ill health grounds as his spine was crumbling. Some days he could not get out of bed but others he could slowly walk 10 yards or so. A few years ago he had to have a pacemaker installed after his heart went berserk having just shot a fox here at 1am. Last year the medicines he took for his diabetes killed his kidneys and he had to go onto dialysis for 12 hours a day.

We got to know each other in the early 90s through talking on boards like this, there were only a handfull of UK based people on the boards then, and as it happened he lived only 5 miles from me. I asked him to come an help control the vermin on the family farm here which he did successfully until he started on the dialysis in spring of 21. In all that time he was a real friend who took these medical setbacks in his stride with a smile on his face. In the end pneumonia got him, i had spoken to him a week or so before, he was a bit down but promised to come and explode some crows here, I was shocked when his son told me he had passed. He leaves a widow, 4 children and I believe 2 grandchildren.

Sleep tight old friend.

A