Emrys Maelor Thomas was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in London. He was born on 28 November 1933. After studying medicine at London University he graduated MB BS in 1957 and did house jobs at King’s College Hospital, the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Hammersmith Hospital. Passing the fellowship of the college in 1967, he eventually became consultant orthopaedic surgeon at King’s College and the Royal Masonic Hospitals. The author of many papers on fractures and other orthopaedic topics, he contributed a chapter on the foot in diabetes to Klenerman’s *The foot* (Oxford, Blackwell, 1982). He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the British Orthopaedic Association. He died on 22 June 2016 aged 82 and was survived by his wife, Maureen (Mickey); children Judy, David and Elizabeth; daughter-in-law Deanne; son-in-law Tom; and grandchildren Isabelle, Emily and Charlotte.