John Mayland Symes was a consultant general surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight. He was born in London in 1942, the son of Arthur Symes, a journalist, and Amy Ellen Symes née Mayland, a housewife. He grew up in Wimbledon, south London, apart from a period when he was evacuated to Gloucestershire during the Second World War. He joked with his children that he used to spot doodlebugs from his pram as his contribution to the war effort. During that time, his father used his skills as a journalist in the Ministry of Information and his mother worked for the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service. His maternal grandmother and uncle were both killed by a bomb which destroyed their home on Coldharbour Lane. He was educated at King’s College School in Wimbledon, where he won the Negus prize for biology. He was an enthusiastic Naval cadet and would later become an avid sailor. He decided early on to pursue a career in medicine and studied at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School from 1959, achieving the MB BS in 1964. He was subsequently awarded the conjoint diploma. He worked as a house surgeon for Norman Tanner at St James’ Hospital, Balham, and as lecturer in surgery at the London Hospital Medical College, before obtaining a training post at the London Hospital, where he worked from 1970 to 1979. Alongside his surgical training, he also worked in general practice as a locum. He was awarded an FRCS in 1970 and an MS in 1978. He specialised in vascular surgery and co-authored several papers on this area of medicine. In 1980, drawn partly by his love of sailing, John moved from London to the Isle of Wight to take up a role as a general surgeon with a specialist interest in vascular surgery at the Isle of Wight Group of Hospitals (there were three hospitals on the island in Ryde, Shanklin and Newport – the former two ultimately closing, leaving St Mary’s Hospital, Newport). As one of two surgeons he considered himself one of the last practising general surgeons. St Mary’s is located opposite the high security prison, Parkhurst, which had its own operating theatre, where he often operated. In 1988 he was instrumental in establishing the breast screening service at St Mary’s. This screening unit on the Isle of Wight was one of the first such centres to be established in the country and was later the first centre in the region to expand the age range of those invited for screening to between 47 and 73. Although probably the smallest unit in the UK, it had a superb reputation and maintained the highest of standards. He retired in 2007 and had no problem filling his time with tennis, sailing, golf, travel and family. He loved his career, both the technical aspects of surgery and the privilege of looking after patients at some of the hardest points in their lives. He was a great listener and saw the good in people. John died on 17 March 2024 at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, of coronary heart disease. He was 82. He was survived by his wife, Yvette Symes (née Mutton), a nurse whom he had married in 1965, their three children, Nicolle (Nicky) Denise, an artist and art teacher, Richard John, the owner of an estate agency, and Natalie Michelle, a GP and clinical lecturer, and his nine grandchildren. He wasn’t alive to meet his first great grandchild, Ernie, who was born in September 2024, but he was alive when Gabby announced her pregnancy earlier that year. He will be remembered as a great family man, a lover of travel, bridge, fine food and wines. He had a wonderful sense of humour and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. He will be sorely missed.