John Coals was a consultant surgeon in accident and emergency surgery at Chester Royal Infirmary. He was born in Highbury, London, on 8 February 1930, the son of John Rueben Coals, a shipping agent, and Alice Maud Beatrice née Ensor. He was educated at St Andrew’s Church School and Enfield Grammar School, before entering the London Hospital Medical College in 1948. After graduating, he was a house surgeon at Hillingdon Hospital and a house physician at the Royal Northern Hospital. He then joined the RAFVR for his National Service. On demobilisation, he completed various registrar posts, mainly in the London area and passed the FRCS in 1961. In 1964, he moved with his family to Manitoba, Canada, where he worked as a general practitioner surgeon at first, became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, and was then appointed as associate director of emergency services at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. In 1980, he returned to the UK as a consultant in accident and emergency surgery at the Chester Royal Infirmary. There he supported, trained and examined ambulance crews in basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation, thus predating the paramedics. He was predeceased by his wife Iris née Woolston in 2000. He died in July 2009, and was survived by his children, Alison, Christopher and Jacqueline.