Claude ('Petal') Neville d'Este Eastes was a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon in Sussex. He was born in Canada and in 1942 qualified in medicine at Guy's Hospital. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, travelling to East Africa, Madagascar, India and Ceylon. He was demobilised with the rank of captain. After the war he returned to Guy's and gained his London University MB BS qualification in 1948. His friendship with Leslie Salmon at Guy's led him to follow a career in ear, nose and throat surgery. He was a registrar at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, and then returned to Guy's as a chief assistant, by which time Salmon had been appointed to the staff. They remained close friends until Salmon's death in 2002. Claude Eastes was appointed as a consultant ENT surgeon to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, the Sussex Throat and Ear Hospital, the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, Brighton, and the Worthing and Southlands hospitals in 1956. His interests were mainly in head and neck surgery, but he was happy to provide a general ENT service. He was much involved with the development of the postgraduate medical centre. Nothing was too much for Claude Eastes; he was always the last to leave the outpatients' and the first to offer help to anyone in need. He was a true gentleman, much respected by all as a surgeon, a keen teacher and a wise mentor. His love of France permeated his life. He drove Citroëns and Renaults, and travelled frequently and widely in that country. He retired at the age of 62 in order to care for his wife Marjorie who suffered from mitral stenosis, secondary to childhood rheumatic fever. She eventually died in 1994. Claude Eastes continued to live in Storrington, Pulborough, until his death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on 3 February 2010 at the age of 92.