Bryan Cruickshanks was an ophthalmic surgeon in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. He was born in Wallsend, Northumberland on 11 October 1935, the second child of William Blackwood Cruickshanks, a tradesman in the shipyards, and his wife, Jesse Cruickshanks née Brown. He excelled at Wallsend Grammar School an

Michael John Hunter was born in Liverpool on 12 April 1935, the son of Oliver Arnold Hunter, an executive director of Woolworth's, and his early education was at St George's College, Weybridge. He then entered Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1960. His early appointments were as