Gingell, John Clive (1935 - 2018)
by
 
Tina Craig

Asset Name
E010121 - Gingell, John Clive (1935 - 2018)

Title
Gingell, John Clive (1935 - 2018)

Author
Tina Craig

Identifier
RCS: E010121

Publisher
The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2022-05-17

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Description
Obituary for Gingell, John Clive (1935 - 2018), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
IsPartOf Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Date of Birth
1935

Place of Birth
Penygraig, Rhondda Valley, Wales

Date of Death
3 April 2018

Occupation
Urological surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
FRCS 1966
 
MB BCh Wales 1960
 
MRCS and LRCP 1960
 
FRCS Edin 1966

Details
John Clive Gingell was usually known by his second name, Clive and as JCG by his work colleagues. Born in Penygraig in the Rhondda Valley in his grandfather’s house, he was the eldest of four children, having three sisters. He attended Kettering Grammar School before moving to Porth County Grammar on his father’s appointment as Borough Architect to the Rhondda Valley. He studied medicine at the University of Wales and graduated MB, BCh in 1960. After initial house jobs at Cardiff and Sully hospitals, he moved to London and trained with Ralph Shackman and Geoff Chisholm. In 1969 he became a senior registrar and tutor at the Bristol United Hospital and completed his urological training with John Mitchell, Norman Slade, Michael Roberts and Roger Feneley. Appointed consultant urological surgeon at Southmead Health Trust Hospital in 1973, he was also a senior lecturer in urology at the University of Bristol. Dedicated to research, he was especially known for his work in andrology. In 1989 he and his research fellow Ken Desai published a paper in the *British Journal of Urology* on impotence caused by long distance cycling which was to eventually lead to a complete redesign of the saddle. Throughout the mid-1990s he and Sam Gepi-Atti carried out randomised, double blind trials on a drug to combat erectile dysfunction. When the data was produced in 1996 the success of Viagra, as it then became known, meant that he became widely known and was much in demand at national and international conferences. A pillar of the British Prostate Group, he also had an oncological practice and had been responsible for very early studies on screening for prostate cancer. He was president of the urology section of the Royal Society of Medicine and the British Associaton of Urological Surgeons awarded him their St Peter’s medal for his contributions to urological surgery. The author of over 200 research papers, he also produced a book and several chapters in books. He retired in 2002. An excellent tennis player, he was also a rugby enthusiast and was medical officer of the Bristol Rugby Club for many years. A sociable and entertaining man, he was famous for his jokes having a perfect memory for the punchlines. In 1963 he married Audrey who became the mother of his three children. She sadly died very suddenly and he then married Lauren who eventually succumbed to cancer. His third wife, Halina, survived him when he died on 3 April 2022 after suffering five years of a neurodegenerative disorder. He was also survived by his children Christopher, Susan and Peter; grandchildren Bryn and Seren; and his sisters, Patricia, Helen and Jane.

Sources
*BMJ* 2022 377 o1124 https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1124; 2024; Wiley Health Hub https://wchh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tre.861 - both accessed 3 June 2024

Rights
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Collection
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Format
Obituary

Format
Asset

Asset Path
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010100-E010199