Amer Amen was a consultant ENT surgeon in Essex. He qualified in Baghdad and worked there and in Kut, Iraq. In 1976, he went to the UK and held registrar posts in otolaryngology at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, and at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He became a senior ENT registrar at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, before being appointed consultant ENT surgeon to St Margaret’s Hospital, Epping, Essex. He was a naturally gifted surgeon and teacher, who was able to perform a wide range of ENT operations. In 1989 he established a charity to purchase a carbon dioxide laser and endoscopic sinus surgery instruments, which he put to good use. Ahead of his time, Amen established electronic records for all his patients early in his consultant career. He was interested in literature, poetry, politics and the stock market. He also enjoyed travelling and horse racing. The last four years of his life were marred by ill health and he died from metastatic adenocarcinoma on 17 September 2008. He leaves his wife, Bushra, two sons, a daughter and a grandson (born a few weeks before his death).