John Burton-Race by Cowton Micheal;Cowton Mike;

Author:Cowton, Micheal;Cowton, Mike;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mortons Media Group
Published: 2020-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

24 Disappearing Act

In 1998, living in Shipton-on-Stour in Warwickshire, Dennis Race was diagnosed with myeloma. He died in the July while undergoing treatment. ‘Dad had an immense pain threshold,’ says Rebecca. ‘I remember once when he underwent root canal treatment without anaesthetic. His death was a knock for all of us. Mum was really low for 12 years. I didn’t think she would pull herself out of it, but she was quite a strong character. She got involved in various groups, such as the bridge club and the choir, and met a teacher called Paddy. He was a very bright man but with no common sense whatsoever. He had never married and had been the main carer for his parents. After buying a bungalow together in Shropshire, Paddy and Mum lived together for a while as companions before they eventually married. Sadly, Paddy was diagnosed with bowel cancer and died in 2009. My then husband Chris and I decided that we would buy a house and have an annex erected so Mum could live with us, while being of independent means. She spent a lot of time looking after my son George when he was a toddler and had a massive impact on him.’ Diagnosed with lung cancer, Shirley died in 2014.

In 1999, Jamie upped sticks and left L’Ortolan. While not particularly bright academically, he had shown an interest in cookery, but it was becoming evident to John that he was itching to take his life in a different direction — anywhere, in fact, other than under his stepbrother’s feet. After Dennis Race’s death, Shirley offered to treat her children to a wonderful holiday to remember him by. Shirley and her daughter Rebecca were talking about an adventure in the Galapagos Islands. Jamie had Thailand in his sights so off he went on a solo ten-day trip, happily bouncing back into Heathrow Airport carrying Shirley’s credit card, which she had given him in case he needed money in an emergency. What did he do next? He bought a first-class ticket back to Thailand. That was it — no conversation with the family. Gone. The next the family heard from him was a short time later when he contacted John saying he had had an accident and was in hospital. He required surgery and asked John to wire him money. John immediately contacted Rebecca, today an A&E consultant, who in turn contacted the hospital — only to discover it was a lie.

With contacts at the prestigious Raffles hotel in Thailand where John had been acting in a consultancy capacity, he managed to swing Jamie a job in the kitchen as a chef, but he never turned up and went AWOL. I ask John to elaborate on the time leading up to Jamie’s disappearance in the Far East, and his comments are tinged with both sadness and resignation. Dennis Race had given his adopted son more than £30,000, secured a mortgage for him on a two-up, two-down house on a small estate close to Le Manoir, and bought him a car so he could commute to work.

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