Roger Edward Adlard was a much-loved consultant plastic surgeon, sub-specialising in hand surgery, at St George’s Hospital, London. He was born on 11 April 1972 at Queen Mary’s Maternity Home, Hampstead, London, to Mavis Adlard née Ritchie and Maxwell Wright Adlard. He grew up in Hertfordshire along with his younger brother Graham, attending first Broxbourne School before moving to the independent school Haileybury to complete his education. Whilst at school, Roger developed a wide range of extracurricular interests including Young Scientists, computing, coding and all things IT, magic competitions, music and stamp collecting. In addition to these more intellectual pastimes, he was an accomplished swimmer, successfully competing for his county, and skier. At Haileybury, Roger became an active member of the debating society, a skill he maintained throughout his life. He loved a good argument and always had something interesting to say about everything. A levels, he went on to read medicine at Queen Mary’s school of medicine and dentistry, qualifying in 1996. During his first year as a junior doctor at Barts and the London, he met his future wife, Julie, in 1997. After finishing his basic surgical training, he went on to complete an MSc in surgical science at University College London in 2004, before commencing his specialist training in plastic surgery. He was competitively appointed to the prestigious pan-Thames training scheme in plastic surgery in 2007. It was in this year, a decade after they met, that Roger proposed to Julie in Dubrovnik. She said yes and they were married a year later. Roger was fascinated by people, languages and cultures, a passion that started early in life – the Adlard family enjoyed spending summer holidays travelling in Europe or staying in Bahrain, where his Aunt Maggie lived. He was adept at languages, speaking both German and French fluently. After his parents bought a property in Spain, Roger became a confirmed Hispanophile. It was no surprise then that, when the time came, he chose to undertake his plastic surgery fellowship in Melbourne, Australia between 2012 and 2014. The Antipodean lifestyle suited Roger and Julie well. In fact, they considered making this a more permanent move; unfortunately, family circumstances prevented that from happening at the time. Roger’s mother, Mavis, began showing signs of dementia, so they decided to move back to the UK to be closer to her. After returning from Australia, Roger embarked on his consultant career, working first as a locum in Salisbury and Wexham Park before his substantive appointment at St George’s. Here his colleagues, many of whom had worked with him as a fellow trainee or consultant colleague before, were delighted to welcome Roger to the team. He was a fantastic hand surgeon. Working in a busy major trauma centre, Roger was often responsible for the care of patients with complex and life-changing hand and upper limbs injuries. He would regularly perform complex surgical procedures to reconstruct the upper limb after such major injuries, including nerve repair, grafting and transfers, as well as soft tissue reconstruction and walked this journey alongside his patients every step of the way, including during their rehabilitation once the acute care had been completed. He was especially known for his kindness, the twinkle in his eye (usually immediately before laughing at one of his own corny jokes), his humility, bossa nova music (guaranteed to be playing in the operating theatre), his vast cinematic knowledge and not to forget his statement socks or annual Christmas gifts of homemade chili sauce! If Roger was in the room, it was a guarantee that there would be laughter. Often, he would be laughing at himself, and many will recognise his favourite self-deprecating line ‘OK, I’ll get my coat’ when one of his terrible jokes would fail to hit the mark. Roger was never afraid to try his hand at something new. As an undergraduate, he even managed to squeeze in six months experience as a computer consultant and bond trader in the City after failing his first year exams. Being a computer geek, he very nearly didn’t go back to medicine, but both his patients and colleagues alike would be very happy he did. He was definitely the go-to person whenever there was an IT issue. Roger was passionate about teaching, something which developed early on during his time as a tutor of anatomy and biochemistry at the British School of Osteopathy, where his father was a science lecturer. This passion continued throughout his life. Knowledgeable, generous and patient are just some of the words used to describe his teaching style. As the educational supervisor of physician associates – a relatively new addition to the plastic surgery team – he was extremely supportive, both clinically and pastorally. His genuine desire for their wellbeing was evident to all. Roger understood that every experience, good or bad, happy or sad, was an opportunity for learning. Each of these experiences taught Roger something about himself and people in general: he could connect with anyone, no matter from which walk of life they came. He excelled at enjoying the finer things in life – most importantly for Roger, the memories he created and shared with Julie, his family and his friends. Speaking at his father’s funeral in 2006, Roger explained that his legacy had been to teach him and his brother that accomplishment is not the material things that you own or the wages you earn, but the deeds that you do, the people you help and the knowledge that you gain. And absolutely Roger lived by that: he is remembered truly for his deeds, his laugh, his kindness. He cared deeply about people, be they patients, colleagues, friends or, above all, family. Roger died suddenly on 5 October 2021 aged just 49. He was survived by his wife, Julie, his mother, Mavis and brother, Graham. His too short but eventful life has left an indelible mark on all those who knew him.