Derek Richards was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Eastbourne District General Hospital, East Sussex. He was born on 12 November 1934 in Middlesbrough to William Richards and Grace Winifred Richards née Funnell. A younger sister, Barbara, was born four years later. As a child during the Second World War, Derek recalled hiding beneath the kitchen table with his mother and sister whilst the Luftwaffe bombed the industrial centre. Middlesbrough was the first major town and industrial centre to be bombed, the first attack being on 25 May 1940. Derek's father was teaching in a local school at that time. His primary education was at Middlesbrough Preparatory School. In his early teens, the family moved to Lichfield in Staffordshire, where Derek's father had been appointed headmaster at King Edward VI School. Founded in 1495, alumni included Samuel Johnson and David Garrick. Derek was a pupil there and achieved academic and sporting success, being appointed head boy and also captain of rugby, as well as achieving a place to read medicine at Jesus College, Cambridge in 1951 at the age of 17. Following three years at Cambridge, Derek continued his clinical training at Guy's Hospital, winning prizes in ophthalmology and bacteriology and obtaining the conjoint diploma and his Cambridge medical degrees. Whilst at Guy's, he continued to be an active first team rugby player, his large frame making him a formidable front row opponent. Following qualification, he was appointed as a house surgeon at Guy's Hospital to Hedley Atkins, who was later to become the first professor of surgery at Guy's and president of the Royal College of Surgeons, not to mention president of Guy's rugby club. Atkins was of the 'old school', calling Derek by his surname for the first four months of the post, subsequent to which he referred to him as 'Derek' or 'Buster', Derek's nickname in the rugby fraternity. No doubt this appointment stimulated him to pursue a career in surgery and, following his pre-registration year, Derek became a demonstrator in the anatomy department of Guy's Medical School. Having passed the primary fellowship in 1961, he set about his surgical career, obtaining a rotating senior house officer post in Bristol working for, amongst others, Bob Horton, consultant general surgeon, and Robert Milnes Walker, the first surgeon to hold the chair of surgery at Bristol University. These posts proved to be an excellent training ground, with Derek passing the final FRCS in 1964. Whilst in Bristol, he met Angela Maton, a student nurse, whom he married in 1962. By this stage, Derek's surgical interests were directed towards orthopaedics, and he and Angela moved back to London, renting a flat in Lewisham, which he euphemistically called Blackheath. Following a short spell of general surgery at St John's Hospital, Lewisham, he was appointed as an orthopaedic registrar to John Stanley Batchelor and Tim Stamm at Guy's Hospital. This was august company, Batchelor being eponymously known for his modification of the Grice subtalar fusion and also the frog spica used in the treatment of congenital hip dislocation. This post was followed by his appointment as a senior registrar in orthopaedics at University College and Whittington hospitals in London. In 1969, he was appointed as a consultant in orthopaedic surgery at Eastbourne District General Hospital, joining Stanley Aubrey Jenkins. For the first five years he also had sessions at Cuckfield Hospital, but subsequently for the rest of his career also visited Uckfield Community Hospital, where he was elected president of the League of Friends and was later instrumental in its redevelopment in the 1990's. A fast operator, Derek quickly built up a large NHS and private practice. Taking his share of departmental, hospital and regional administrative work, he was also elected president of the Eastbourne Medical Society in 1993. He retired from clinical work in 1994. Derek was 'larger than life' in every respect. For most of his career, he weighed more than 20 stone but, despite this, was able to play golf and particularly enjoyed shoots with his friends in the Sussex countryside. A family man, with two sons and two daughters, Derek was very much at home with Angela, entertaining at their country house in Buxted and, more latterly, enjoying time at their house in Tarn-et-Garonne, France. His general bonhomie hid a sharp and retentive mind, which enabled him to recall his patients and also to be an excellent raconteur. Despite four hip replacements and two knee replacements, rendering him somewhat immobile, he continued in good health until the last few months of his life, spending his last weeks at Uckfield Hospital. He died on 16 May 2017, at the age of 82. His memorial service at St Margaret the Queen Church, Buxted was attended by a large gathering of friends, colleagues and former patients. He was survived by his wife Angela and four children, Michael, Liz, Simon and Alice. Simon, his younger son, has followed his father's footsteps, and is an orthopaedic consultant in Bournemouth.