Joe Jaya-Ratnam was born in Ceylon on 17 December 1936. He trained in Colombo, where he practised for 15 years before going to England to train in surgery. He specialised in accident and emergency medicine, was a registrar in Lincoln and Leicester, and a senior registrar in Middlesborough, before being appointed as a consultant at Tameside General Hospital, Ashton-under-Lyne. He was an active member of his local church, where his singing voice was greatly appreciated. He married Sajo and they had one son, Darrell, and one daughter, Caroline. He died on 9 June 2002.