Andrew Baker was a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary. He was born in Enfield, London, on 21 February 1961, the son of John Baker, a launderette owner, and Patricia Baker née Mighall, a housewife. He was the youngest of three siblings; he had a brother, John, and a sister, Carole. After school, he studied engineering for a year, but decided this was not for him and changed to dentistry. He graduated from the University of Bristol and soon started his medical degree at the same university. Andrew did his registrar and senior registrar training in Scotland and was one of the first British fellows in Portland, Oregon. He gained his FDS in 1990 and his FRCS in 1993 and became one of the best-trained and most experienced trainees in the UK and was sought after by numerous well-established oral and maxillofacial units. He chose Derbyshire Royal Infirmary and, in 1999, became head of the department of maxillofacial surgery there. After leaving Derby, he worked in a variety of hospitals and then settled in Leicester with his wife Hazel, also an oral and maxillofacial consultant. I first met Andrew at a party in Leicester, soon after he had taken up his post. He walked into the room and lit it up with his charisma and ability to chat to anyone. He had time for everyone and spent a lot of time talking to me, despite my being a very junior trainee. Subsequently, Andrew became my trainer and, more importantly, my friend. He had huge amounts of natural surgical ability, but what made him stand out was his willingness to try new things and expand the boundaries of oral and maxillofacial and head and neck surgery. He was instrumental in developing new techniques such as endoscopic condylar fixation. Andrew’s plan was to reestablish the head and neck cancer unit at Leicester, in a hospital where this had been suspended. Despite knowing the challenges ahead of him, being the only head and neck/reconstructive surgeon and without any registrars, Andrew was determined to get the service up and running. Leicester has a large population of Gujarati Indians with a high incidence of oral cancer linked to the chewing of paan (made from betel leaves). With major cancer cases, Andrew would sleep on his office floor in case of any problems, as he knew he had little suitably trained cover. For many years he would provide a 24-hour, seven day a week microvascular cover for his patients, in case there were any issues. Andrew was hugely popular with his patients. Stories of patients bringing him gifts, such as a lady giving him a puppy for saving her son’s life, are numerous. I have a school friend from Zambia, who now lives in Leicester, who had also been under Andrew’s care and could not praise Andrew enough. Over the years Andrew reestablished and expanded the service. Just before his last trip to South Africa, he said to me that he was looking forward to finally trying to relax a bit. He had a colleague he loved and trusted (Manish Mair) and well-trained fellows. He had achieved his aim of reestablishing a service of state-of-the-art treatment for a local population that desperately needed it. Unfortunately, Andrew never managed to relax and look back at what he had achieved. Andrew was a superb teacher and was a real asset to the AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen). He was instrumental with others in establishing AOUK&I as an entity, as well as lecturing on local, regional and international courses. Teaching came naturally to him and his PowerPoint presentations were some of the best I had seen. He ran classes on presentation using PowerPoint and was well ahead of his time. He had an ability to simplify the most complex topics. Andrew was obviously a very skilled surgeon, but there was so much more to him. He loved photography, and I would lose him on numerous trips abroad, where he had seen a superb scene and would spend hours trying to capture the moment. He was an accomplished skier and, despite damaging both knees, would ski with knee braces and still manage to look elegant. Andrew loved travelling and I went on more than 15 trips with him. He would make friends from the moment we arrived at the airport and would talk to everyone. His warmth endeared him to so many. Only last year Hazel said that on a trip to Jamaica, Andrew had befriended a man who had very little and spent a long time talking to and getting to know him. Despite travelling all over the world, Andrew had a special place in his heart for India. He loved the people, the food and all that is India. He had travelled across India on a motorbike. He was very popular amongst the surgeons there for his dedication and friendship. I owe Andrew so much – for his patience with me during operating sessions, for helping me achieve my first publication and my first presentation at a national meeting. But most of all, I valued his friendship. My whole family got to know Andrew well and he would often join us for Diwali dinners in Leicester. They all loved his sense of humour. Andrew loved his family, Hazel, Maxi (his son) and Patricia, his mother. On every trip we made, he would talk about them and show their pictures to everyone. A couple of days before his passing, he said to Hazel how much they all meant to him and how desperate he was to get back to them. He was tragically killed on a road in South Africa on 3 February 2023 when his motorbike collided with a truck. He was just 61. He will be missed for his friendship, humour and the time he gave to us all.