John Ferguson, or Fergie as he was always known, was a consultant general surgeon on Guernsey, Channel Islands. He was born on 28 August 1943 in Tantobie, near Stanley, County Durham and was educated at Tanfield Lea Junior School and Stanley Grammar School. He excelled at school and was gifted with a photographic memory. John read medicine at the University of Durham and qualified with first class honours in 1966. He was awarded his MD in 1971 for his then ground-breaking research on the transplantation of Langerhans islet cells as a potential cure of diabetes. John obtained his fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1974. A promising career in academia and a professorship were in his grasp when he decided to take his family to Guernsey in the Channel Islands to give them a better quality of life. In Guernsey John became the general surgeon of one of the island’s private GP practices. In 1992 John was one the founders of the Medical Specialist Group – a group of 19 doctors who joined together to offer secondary health care to the islanders. The Medical Specialist Group has since flourished and is now 50 specialists strong. John had a very successful and rewarding career as a surgeon with a special interest in colorectal surgery until his retirement. John was visionary and instrumental in helping to introduce laparoscopic surgery to the island. In retirement John continued to serve the people of Guernsey. He was elected by the States of Guernsey to the office of jurat of the Royal Court in 2007 and left the Court with the rank of lieutenant bailiff in 2018. John also served as a director for the Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands between 2011 and 2015, contributing to charitable causes in the islands. He was briefly commander of St John Ambulance in Guernsey between 2011 and 2012. John had many interests outside work, including gardening, woodwork, travelling and fast cars, but above all he was a family man who loved spending time with his wife, children, grandchildren and friends. In retirement John overcame colorectal cancer, having had a laparoscopic anterior resection. In his last years he suffered from prostate cancer and myelodysplasia and died peacefully just before his 80th birthday. He was survived by his wife Jean, his children Gavin and Gillian and five grandchildren.