Christopher Alan Gateley was a consultant breast surgeon for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Gwent. He was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, on 18 September 1959, the eldest of three children of Francis Herbert Gateley, known as Bert, a mechanical engineer, and Pamela J Gateley née Preece, an English teacher. He attended Headless Cross Primary School and Redditch High School. Chris was a quiet and studious boy who enjoyed rugby and judo. He excelled at science and was fascinated by space travel, which remained a lifelong passion. Following a work experience attachment with a GP friend of the family, his heart was set on medicine. He began his studies at the University of Wales medical school in Cardiff in October 1978. Here he pursued his love of rugby and was also a keen skier. It was at medical school that he met Mary Jones, a trainee radiographer from Pontypridd, who later became his wife and lifelong soulmate. He graduated in 1983 and, following a surgical house job with Lewis Philip Thomas at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales, he was inspired to pursue surgery as a career. He held junior posts with Dougie Foster at Bridgend General and Brian Rees at Cardiff Royal Infirmary, followed by two years as a general surgical registrar at Sefton Hospital in Liverpool. By 1989 he had passed his FRCS and was set on a career in breast surgery. He was appointed as a research fellow to Bob Mansel in Cardiff initially, and subsequently for two years in Manchester, where he combined a clinical post with his research. He completed his masters in 1995 with a thesis entitled ‘Factors associated with breast cyst formation and recurrence’. In the same year, he was appointed as the first specialist breast surgeon at the Royal Gwent Hospital, where his interest in surgery was first piqued. His appointment included some general surgery work and sessions at the recently opened Breast Test Wales screening service in Cardiff, where he became the first surgeon in Gwent to participate in the treatment of screen detected breast cancers. From the very beginning he led the new breast service from the front and by example. He remained on the general surgery rota for many years post appointment and is one of the few people I know of who was sad to relinquish that role when the huge workload involved with breast surgery left no time for general surgical procedures. He worked tirelessly during his 27 years at Gwent to develop a breast service with the highest standards and reputation. The service was the recipient of trust awards for outstanding team achievements and was acknowledged as an example of a service which delivered consistently and innovated constantly under Chris’ steadfast leadership. His workload was immense and his clinics were by far the largest in surgical outpatients, with Chris himself usually the first to arrive and the last to finish. His patients thought the world of him and appreciated his kind and patient manner. He was passionate about developing a centralised breast service for Gwent, amalgamating and streamlining the services at Nevill Hall and the Royal Gwent hospitals. This proved to be a mammoth task, which took 15 years to achieve. The new purpose-built breast centre was opened in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, a community hospital at Ystrad Mynach, in 2024. It is a fitting legacy to his vision and relentless hard work and, as he rightly predicted, it has been hugely beneficial to the delivery of breast services in the county. He was an excellent trainer and there are legions of surgeons working today who were inspired, educated and supported by him, some of whom did indeed return to work alongside him in Newport. He was universally respected by colleagues and co-workers at all levels, and he always had time for everybody. He published regularly but never sought plaudits. Chris was an avid supporter of the Welsh Surgical Society and was appointed their president in 2017. He served for five years and was the longest serving president in their history. Despite his innovative and forward-looking approach to his work, he was less keen on change in his daily life. He drove the same, much repaired, MG car from his time as a junior doctor, until the last years of his career. Likewise, he used the same increasingly battered suitcase until it fell apart at the oft-repaired seams. His love of rugby was undiminished, and he was a debenture holder at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where he regularly attended matches with his beloved daughter Rachel. By now he was an honorary Welshman, although he did stop short of supporting Wales in the old rivalry matches against England. Chris faced significant health challenges in his final two years or so as a consultant and by 2022 he decided to retire. Despite initial reservations he embraced the new challenge and enjoyed trips to Greece and prolonged stays at his static caravan in St Justinian’s, Pembrokeshire. He had begun to study history and was embarking on an online degree when he died suddenly and unexpectedly shortly before Christmas 2024. In keeping with his passion for space travel, his ashes were launched into space to the accompaniment of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free bird’. He is sorely missed by us all and was survived by Mary, Rachel and son-in-law James, as well as Pamela, his mother, and siblings, Jennifer and Ian.