Kenneth Francis Cabrera was born in Sydney on 5 June 1932, the son of an accountant, Francis William Vere Cabrera, and his wife Maud. He grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney becoming a committed Christian in his youth, a faith which strongly influenced him throughout his life. He attended the Fort Street Boys' High School, gaining an exhibition and bursary to Sydney University, from where he graduated in 1956. He spent five years in England during which time he worked as a registrar at Southend-on-Sea, gaining his FRCS in 1962. Returning to Australia in 1964 he was appointed orthopaedic registrar at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he was appointed consultant in 1967, developing a special interest in paediatric orthopaedics. In 1983 he was appointed head of the department of orthopaedic surgery and trauma. In his time he was Chairman of the South Australian Committee of the Australian Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a member of Council of the South Australian Paraplegic and Quadraplegic Association. In private life he was a keen philatelist and had a great love of the country, enjoying bush walking and the study of Australian native plants. At the age of 51 he developed disseminated malignancy when his strong religious faith, which contributed to his humility and contentment in life, gave him peace in dying. His strength and dignity were matched by his wife, Myra and his four children, Judith, Ruth, David and Helen. He died in June 1984.