Thomas Stoyle ('Tom') was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield General Hospital, Leicester. He was born on 21 April 1926 in Glasgow. His father was a regular soldier; his mother was German and the family regularly visited Germany for holidays. He was educated at the Cardinal Vaughan School in London. In 1943, in the middle of the Second World War, aged 17, he volunteered for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. He spent six months reading classics at Oxford University before he was sent to Texas to learn to fly. He returned to the UK just before the war ended. After his demobilisation, he studied medicine at King's College, London, and St George's Hospital. He was a house officer and casualty officer at St George's, an orthopaedic registrar at St Bartholomew's Hospital and then a senior orthopaedic registrar at Sheffield Royal Infirmary. In 1965 he was appointed to his consultant post in Leicester. With Joss Hill, director of orthopaedic surgery, he played a major role in the development and planning of the Leicester hospitals, particularly the Royal Infirmary. He eventually took over the running of the orthopaedic department and was chairman of the orthopaedic division in the Leicester hospitals until 1988. He developed two special areas of interest - children's orthopaedic surgery and hip arthroplasty. He was president of the Leicestershire and Rutland division of the British Medical Association in 1974 and was on the council of the British Orthopaedic Association from 1978 to 1979. As a medical student he rowed, and continued playing tennis all his life. He enjoyed rugby and supported the local team, the Leicester Tigers, and had a passion for fast cars. He had a deep attachment to Spain, learnt Spanish and had an apartment in Alicante. Thomas Stoyle died on 24 January 2010, aged 83. He was survived by his wife Pennie, his daughter Amanda, his son Laurence and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.