Hari Ker was born at Stafford on 4 November 1924 and received his medical education at King's College, London, and Charing Cross Hospital, where he qualified MRCS, LRCP and MB, BS London in 1948. He was awarded the Pickering Prize at King's College and the public health prize at Charing Cross Hospital. After house appointments at Charing Cross he was appointed lecturer in anatomy at King's College. Subsequently he widened his surgical experience with posts at the Whittington, Wembley, and St Charles's Hospitals in London. He took the FRCS in 1952. In 1956 he was appointed senior surgical registrar at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, and in 1962 was awarded the Bishop Harman Prize for a paper on the surgical anatomy of femoral hernia. In 1963 he was appointed consultant surgeon to the Merthyr and Aberdare Group of Hospitals. All who worked with Hari Ker quickly realized that he was a surgeon of outstanding ability. He concerned himself not only with his strictly clinical duties but also with all aspects of the hospital service. Particularly interested in postgraduate education, he was postgraduate organizer and surgical tutor for the district. His own surgical tutorials were of high repute and were attended by fellowship candidates from a wide area. He was an active member of a number of committees, including the former Merthyr and Aberdare hospital management committee, and a former chairman of the medical staff committee. From its inception he was a member of the working party concerned with the design and planning of the new district hospital which is now nearing completion. He was married and had four children. He died on 20 August 1975, while on holiday in France, aged 50 years.