Michael Chare was a consultant surgeon at Neath, Baglan, Morriston and Singleton hospitals. He was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the second son of Ernest John Bruton, an engineer, and Marjorie Bruton née Briars. He was educated at Warwick School, where he boarded from the age of seven and was a keen sportsman, and went on to study medicine at Pembroke College, Oxford, and St Mary's Hospital Medical School, where he won the Wallace Memorial prize in microbiology. He qualified MB BCh in 1959. He held junior posts at St Mary's under William Tait Irvine and at Portsmouth and Sheffield. He was then on a registrar rotation at the University of Wales, Cardiff, where he developed an interest in breast surgery. In 1983 he was appointed as a consultant general surgeon at Neath Hospital, and went on to lead the development of West Glamorgan's specialist breast service at Singleton Hospital. Outside medicine he was interested in photography, music, squash and rugby. Michael Chare died on 3 August 2013 from colon cancer. He was 68. He was survived by his wife Sian, his children Christopher and Peter, stepchildren Victoria and Nikki, and his grandson Joseph.