Cover image for
Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E008033 - Bennett, Donald John (1939 - 2008)
Title:
Bennett, Donald John (1939 - 2008)
Author:
June Bennett
Identifier:
RCS: E008033
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2015-09-14

2018-03-21
Description:
Obituary for Bennett, Donald John (1939 - 2008), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Bennett, Donald John
Date of Birth:
14 April 1939
Place of Birth:
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Date of Death:
4 October 2008
Place of Death:
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Titles/Qualifications:
MB BS Queensland 1962

FRCS 1968
Details:
Don Bennett was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Sydney Adventist Hospital. He was born on 14 April 1939 in Brisbane, the eldest son of Sir Arnold Lucas Bennett, a barrister, and his first wife Marjory (née Williams), who died when Don and his three siblings were very young. He was then raised by his stepmother, Nancy (née Mellor), and had four half siblings. His great grandfather, Thomas Pennington Lucas, was a medical practitioner and naturalist who emigrated to Australia in the 1870s. Wesleyan Methodism was a strong family influence for several generations. He was educated at Toowong and Ironsides state schools, and at Brisbane Boys' College. He was tall and athletic, being a good swimmer, runner and cricketer, and a bit of 'larrikin' in the Australian tradition. He drove a Second World War Willys Jeep while a student at the University of Queensland and qualified in 1962. He interned at Toowoomba Base Hospital and met a newly-graduated pharmacist, June Bloomfield, and married in 1963. They sailed to England in 1965, where he was a junior house surgeon at Memorial Hospital, Shooters Hill, and then a senior house surgeon at Cuckfield Hospital. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1968. Returning to Australia, he was a registrar in cardiothoracic surgery at the Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney, before relocating to the Pacific (Presbyterian) Medical Center, San Francisco in 1971 as a fellow in cardiothoracic surgery with Frank Gerbode. Mogens L Bramson was on the staff and they were using prolonged partial bypass for critically ill patients. Early in 1972 the family - there were now two young boys - drove an old Chevrolet across the USA in the middle of winter to the Cleveland Clinic, where Donald Effler, the chief of cardiothoracic surgery, had encouraged René Favaloro to pioneer coronary artery surgery. The chief of cardiology was F Mason Sones Jr, who had pioneered coronary angiography. Don was successively a fellow, chief resident and associate staff surgeon there before returning to the Prince Henry Hospital in 1975 as a staff specialist. In 1978, he became the first consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Sydney Adventist Hospital when they founded a unit there. He retired in 1991. Don was a man without pretension or prejudice and with an acute sense of humour. His working life was consumed by his concern for his patients and his team, and by participating in his boys' school and sporting activities. In retirement golf became a passion, which continued after returning to Queensland in 2002. His final three-year battle with melanoma was conducted with good humour and courage. Don Bennett died on 4 October 2008 aged 69. He was survived by his widow June, sons Ross and Brian, and granddaughters Madison, Ashleigh and Riley.
Sources:
*Brisbane Courier Mail*
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E008000-E008999/E008000-E008099
Media Type:
Unknown