On April 15, 1989, he travelled from his home in Keighley to support his team, Liverpool, who were playing in the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest in Sheffield. At the Hillsborough disaster Anthony David Bland suffered severe brain damage that left him in a persistent vegetative state. Four months after sustaining his injuries, Dr Howe and the young man’s family agreed that Tony should be allowed to die with dignity because to all intents and purposes he had already died on that day on the terraces of Hillsborough. The hospital trust applied to the court that “they might lawfully discontinue all life-sustaining treatment and medical support measures, including ventilation, nutrition and hydration by artificial means”, and their application was granted. However, this decision was then appealed to the House of Lords by the solicitor who had been appointed to act on Tony’s behalf. He argued that the withdrawal of artificial treatment, which would inevitably lead to death, would constitute murder. The House of Lords rejected the appeal, thereby allowing Tony’s doctors to lawfully withdraw treatment.