Donal Brooks was an eminent orthopaedic surgeon in London who specialised in hand surgery. He was born in Dublin on 10 April 1917, the third son of Edward Clive Brooks, the chairman and managing director of Brooks Thomas and governor of the Royal Bank of Dublin, and Kathleen née Pollock, the daughter of a doctor and one of the first women in Ireland to be awarded a degree. His grandfather, Maurice Brooks, was a Lord Mayor of Dublin. Whilst at preparatory school in Wales Donal contracted poliomyelitis, which left him with almost complete paralysis of the left leg. He was treated by several renowned orthopaedic surgeons, including Sir Robert Jones, who inspired him to follow a career in medicine and ultimately in orthopaedics. At Repton School he was the only pupil allowed to ride a bicycle. Donal undertook his medical education at Trinity College, Dublin, qualifying in 1942 and then filled various junior posts at Dr Steevens' Hospital, Dublin, before moving to Oxford, to the Wingfield-Morris Orthopaedic Hospital, to specialise in orthopaedics as house surgeon and research assistant to H J Seddon. When Seddon was appointed director of the newly-formed Institute of Orthopaedics at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in 1948, Brooks accompanied him from Oxford. He had by now become Seddon's first assistant and was soon made consultant in charge of rehabilitation, and specialised in hand surgery. In 1957 he was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Barnet General Hospital and consultant hand surgeon at the RNOH, having worked exclusively for Seddon for 15 years: he often referred to himself as 'the last of the apprentices'. He left Barnet in 1963 on his appointment to University College Hospital and in addition held honorary appointments at King Edward VII Hospital for Officers, Chailey Heritage and St Luke's Hospital for the Clergy. He was also honorary civilian consultant to the Royal Navy and the RAF. Brooks had an extensive private practice, which included three Prime Ministers and three Kings. His international reputation resulted in many overseas honorary professorships and he published extensively on poliomyelitis and hand surgery. He served on the Court of Examiners of the College, becoming chairman, and was president of the orthopaedic section of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the council and of the editorial board of the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA). Early in his career he was a BOA travelling fellow to North America and worked as an exchange fellow at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. Outside medicine his many interests included music and the ballet, but particularly motor cars, including five vintage Bentleys, one of which was a frequent sight in Harley Street. He finally retired to the house and farm he had bought in Galway, where he and his wife Stephanie née Mackworth Praed (Seddon's secretary), whom he had married in 1947, developed an extensive and beautiful garden, open to the public. Donal, an engaging and charming character, died on 24 March 2004 after a short illness, leaving Stephanie, three sons (Christopher, Rory and Seamus), three daughters (Roisin, Doon and Siobhan) and 14 grandchildren. 'I'm not a Catholic, just a careless Protestant,' was another of his memorable remarks.