Derek Randal Richard was an orthopaedic surgeon at Whipps Cross Hospital and Forest Hospital, Buckhurst Hill. He was born in London on 10 March 1924, the second son of Arthur Richard, a captain in the Royal Navy, and Katherine Emily Richard née Dalzell. He was educated at Winton House, Winchester, and Bradfield College in Buckinghamshire. He then went to Worcester College, Oxford, to study medicine as a Nuffield Exhibitioner, and Middlesex Hospital. From 1949 to 1951 he served as a captain in the RAMC, during the Malayan Emergency. After junior posts he became an orthopaedic registrar in Bristol, then a senior registrar at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. He subsequently became a senior lecturer in orthopaedic and trauma surgery at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, before he was appointed to his consultant post. He wrote about his experiences in Nigeria in an article in the *British Medical Journal* ('Orthopaedics in Northern Nigeria' *Br Med J*. 1961 May 13;1[5236]:1382-6). Outside medicine he was interested in music, particularly the violin, and photography. In 1960 he married a Miss Froome. They had one son, Martin. Derek Randal Richard died on 3 January 2012, aged 87.