Born in 1901, Edward Collins was educated at Summerhill College, Sligo and qualified from the National University of Ireland in 1923. After seven years in general practice he held resident appointments at the Royal Marsden, the West London, St Mary Abbott's, and Hammersmith Hospitals from 1930 to 1934. He worked at the Fulham Hospital from 1934 to 1939, and then in Birmingham where he remained until his death. After working in the EMS as a general surgeon, he was appointed surgeon to the Ear Nose and Throat Department of the Selly Oak Hospital in 1942 with Philip Reading. Edward Collins, familiarly known as "Ned", was a confirmed bachelor and lived in the hospital during his years at Selly Oak. He was widely read and a first-rate raconteur. He was a man of absolute integrity with a quick, analytical mind. He had been an athlete in his youth. He died from a heart attack while out shooting in his native County Roscommon, aged 57, on 20 December 1958.