Brian Hayes was a consultant surgeon at East Glamorgan Hospital, Pontypridd. He was born in Tibshelf, Derbyshire, in 1929, the son of a miner. He was brought up in the north east of England, until the family moved to south Wales. He studied medicine in Newcastle, and went on to hold junior posts in general surgery, urology and neurology. He was appointed to a senior registrar rotation between St Mary’s and Chase Farm Hospitals, until he gained a consultant post as general surgeon with a special interest in urology at East Glamorgan Hospital. Caring, jovial, calm and full of commonsense he was a keen skier and hill walker. He died from a myocardial infarction and renal failure on 1 September 2004, leaving his wife Edna, a retired doctor, and two sons.