Gordon Heard was a consultant surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales and a former president of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He was born on 23 February 1926 in Rhiwbina, Cardiff the second son of Albert Heard, a geologist at Cardiff University; his brother, Brian, went on to become a pathologist. In 1939, at the age of 13, Gordon became seriously ill with osteomyelitis of the right tibia and spent some time in Cardiff Royal Infirmary. The experience made a lasting impression on him, so much so that he changed his childhood aspirations from civil engineering to surgery. Despite the serious interruption to his schooling, he managed to matriculate from the City of Cardiff High School for Boys, and success in the higher certificate led a City of Cardiff scholarship, a Craddock Wells exhibition and entrance to the Welsh National School of Medicine in 1943. He qualified in 1949 with the Alfred Sheen prize in anatomy and physiology and the Willie Seager medal in pathology and bacteriology. As a student, he was still troubled by recurrent bone infections, and he became one of the first civilians to receive treatment with penicillin. After qualifying, he served between 1950 and 1952 as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps on the surgical wards of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital in Netley, Southampton, at a time when soldiers were being returned injured from the Korean war. He went on to train in surgery in Cardiff under Lambert Rogers and David Ioan-Jones, and at the Hammersmith Hospital, London with Ian Aird. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1954. In 1958, he spent a year in the surgical department of Frederick A Coller at Michigan State University, Ann Arbor. While in the US he developed an interest in neurofibromatosis and nerve sheath tumours, which formed the basis for a master’s thesis in surgery, which was awarded with a distinction in 1960. This work also led to a Hunterian professorship in 1962. In 1961, he was appointed as a senior lecturer on the surgical unit in Cardiff and two years later, in 1963, as a consultant surgeon to the Cardiff United Hospitals. He was the first to develop a specialist service in vascular surgery in Wales and remained a leader in this field right up to his retirement. His role as a surgical teacher and mentor were fundamental aspects of his clinical and surgical practice, and as a teacher of operative surgery he was unsurpassed. His exemplary technical skill and attention to detail, no matter how minute, served as a true model of excellence. In 1981, he was elected as president of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, of which he was a founder member. He was elected to the court of examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1980 and became chairman in 1986. He was elected as president of the Welsh Surgical Society in 1987 and was later chairman of the Surgical Advisory Committee in Wales. He retired in September 1987. Gordon Heard was a tall, confident man, always immaculately dressed in suit and white coat, his distinguished appearance and imposing presence commanding respect. He was a dedicated family man, with three children and three grandchildren. When not working, he enjoyed sailing, skiing and fly fishing. He later took up wood turning and cabinet making, producing beautiful furniture, of which he was justifiably very proud. He had a very long and happy retirement with his wife, Kate, who survived him. Gordon Heard died from pneumonia on 24 November 2018. He was 92.