John Meredith Harrison was an orthopaedic surgeon in New South Wales and a distinguished international water polo player. He was born in Sydney on 21 May 1944, the second of three children of Marjorie Joy Harrison née Parker (known to her friends as Marnie) and Ernest John Jasper George Harrison, a New South Wales government geologist. John attended Middle Harbour Public School and Fort Street Primary School, before his father accepted a challenging assignment to Egypt and the family moved to Cairo. John attended the English School there and later remembered: ‘There wasn’t a lot to do in Egypt, and life revolved around club life with other Europeans. So being a bit of a masochist I swam and swam and swam.’ With the Suez Crisis of 1956, the family were evacuated back to Australia. John found himself at North Sydney Boys’ High School, where he became a prefect and a competitive rugby and water polo player and swimmer. In 1961 John began studying medicine at Sydney University. He worked hard for three years and then took a year out to complete a BSc degree ‘while majoring in water polo’. He represented New South Wales at the Australian water polo championships continuously from 1965 to 1972 and from 1974 to 1975. He earned 52 caps representing Australia as goalkeeper. After touring with the Australian water polo and swimming team in 1967, John was selected for the Australian water polo team for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, but a dispute between the Australian Olympic Federation, the International Olympic Committee and FINA – the world swimming body – led to the team being unable to compete. John, who had taken a year of his medical studies to compete at the Olympics, was devastated. He qualified in medicine in 1969 and, after declaring himself not good enough to make the water polo side for the 1972 Munich Olympics, set off for England to pursue his surgical career. He gained his fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1974 after working at St Bartholomew’s Hospital as a surgical registrar and as a senior registrar in thoracic surgery and neurosurgery. He returned to Sydney and was accepted by the Australian orthopaedic training scheme and subsequently worked as an orthopaedic registrar at Royal North Shore Hospital, St George Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. He was an honorary orthopaedic surgeon to the New South Wales Water Polo Association, the Australian women’s water polo side at the World Cup in Rome, the Cumberland Cricket Association, Parramatta Rugby Union Club, Hills District Rugby League Football Club and the Kellyville District Rugby League Football Club. He was also the Australian water polo team manager to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and Australian water polo team doctor. His voluntary medical contribution to sport, as well as medicine, was recognised when he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013. Professionally, as well as joint replacement surgery, he pursued interests in trauma, sports medicine and medico-politics. He undertook study tours of Endo Klinik in Hamburg, where pioneering work in joint replacement and revision surgery was being conducted, and collaborated with US orthopaedic surgeon, Charles Bechtol, in Los Angeles, who he described as ‘an innovative and original thinker, mentor and friend’. His time in the New South Wales public hospital system was mostly spent as an honorary orthopaedic surgeon, which meant accepting no payment for the public medical treatment he provided whilst retaining private practice rights. John valued the honorary system of medical appointments in public hospitals and was critical of subsequent Health Department policy designed to eliminate honorary practice in New South Wales public hospitals, describing it as counterproductive. John had trained as an orthopaedic registrar under Bruce Shepherd. They became close friends and trusted allies, particularly after Shepherd led a mass resignation of orthopaedic and other surgical colleagues in the 1984 doctors’ dispute. He rallied to the cause when the then premier, Neville Wran, threatened any doctor who would not accept his new hospital contracts with a seven-year ban from the New South Wales public hospital system. John had a well-informed understanding of politics and politicians. His mother was the niece of Sir Vernon Treatt, who become leader of the New South Wales opposition and helped establish the Liberal Party of Australia. Although John was not active politically, he read widely and had a firm grip on health legislation and regulation, and in particular how it impacted patients. John accompanied Shepherd to all the important meetings during the dispute. His knowledge of medicine, finance and the law, along with his competitive and strategic experience, proved invaluable in negotiating the final outcome, which saw private practice rights maintained, and those doctors who wished to return to the public hospital system reinstated with seniority. His political skills also proved valuable during the medical indemnity crisis of 2001 to 2003, when John, Don Sheldon and Stephen Milgate were invited to make representations to Prime Minister John Howard on proposed reforms to medical negligence laws in Australia. Another positive outcome of the doctors’ dispute was the boost it gave to the non-religious private hospital sector. Baulkham Hills Private Hospital, where John and Bruce Shepherd established themselves, became a leader in building investment confidence in private hospitals. John served his patients with skill, compassion and dedication from his rooms in Parramatta and, with his associates, made sure that Sydney’s western suburbs had access to the highest standards of orthopaedic surgery. He also developed a highly regarded medico-legal practice, which was expanded during the latter years of his surgical career, which were mostly spent at Norwest Private Hospital. He was an undisputed leader of his profession. He served as president of the Australian Orthopaedic Association and was awarded the L O Betts Memorial medal for clinical excellence. He was chairman of the Australian Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Australian Doctors’ Federation, where he was awarded the Bruce Shepherd medal for outstanding service to independent medicine. He served on numerous committees, including ethics, medical education and training, finance, workers’ compensation and medico-legal. He was admired as a ‘good pair of hands’, a trusted and valued colleague, and as a sound source of personal and professional advice. Around the time John completed his surgical fellowship, he met an attractive radiographer, Debra Anne Manners. They married in Caringbah in June 1978 and enjoyed a happy married life, raising three children and restoring a heritage property in Seven Hills, which became their family home and the centre of many happy social and family gatherings. Debbie understood her husband’s incredible work ethic and threw her full support behind everything he did, including his expanding collection of brass beds, medical instruments and historic books. Her loss in 2007 from breast cancer was devastating. John suffered a fatal cardiac infarct on 2 November 2019 whilst walking at his much-loved Balmoral Beach, where he enjoyed regular open ocean swimming with the Balmoral Beach Club. He was 75. He was survived by his children, Steven, Graeme and Elizabeth, and two grandchildren, Gabriella and Clara. A friend and mentor to generations of orthopaedic surgeons, he will be admirably remembered.