'˜Without her there is no way I'd have the kind of life I have now.' TalkSPORT host Adrian Durham pays tribute to former Deacon's headteacher

Adrian paid a heartfelt tribute to Sandra Samwell who died suddenly from leukemia aged 64.

He said: “I first met Sandra Samwell in the early 1980s when I went to Deacon’s School in Peterborough. Back then she was Mrs Bush, and she was my Religious Education teacher, and later she taught me A-Level sociology.

“She recognised very early on that my upbringing had been very difficult, and life at home for me was tough. She had a way of looking after kids like me and making sure they had a chance of a good life beyond school.

“She directed school musicals and encouraged me to be part of them. The confidence I got from that took my life to another level. Even though she must have known I couldn’t sing a note, there I was on stage in front of a packed school hall blaring out songs from ‘Godspell’ and ‘Guys and Dolls.’ Those great memories will never leave me.

“She did her best for me, always. At home there was no income whatsoever, so somehow she found money from an ‘unknown’ school fund to enable me to visit universities I’d applied to.

“I had very little proper adult guidance as a teenager, she knew that and did her best to fill the void, even visiting me at university up north to make sure I was surviving.

“I’m sure she helped a lot of kids in her career and I was lucky to be one of them. Without her there is no way I’d have the kind of life I have now.

“Sandra Samwell – Mrs Bush - was a brilliant teacher. But more than that, she was a truly wonderful person who genuinely cared.”