George Attara was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor, Wales. He was born in Cairo, Egypt on 29 December 1945 to an Egyptian father, Antoine Karim Attara, a merchant, and a Greek mother, Anastasia Attara née Mazarakis. This background gave him a deep appreciation of different cultures and the ability to speak multiple languages, including Arabic, Greek and French. He had an identical twin, Karim, also an orthopaedic surgeon, who is working in Dubai and is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He and his brother were educated at the French Collège des Pères Jésuites Primary School and the Collège De La Salle in Cairo. They entered Cairo University to study medicine together in 1964 and graduated in 1970. During his university years, George was an avid music player, playing the guitar, keyboard and accordion. It was at during time that The Beatles were changing popular music globally and their band, Magic Fingers, was inspired by their style. Their favourite opening number was ‘Help’. George was also a competitive cyclist and won several trophies during that time. George completed his internship at Cairo University and moved to the UK in 1972. His first post in the UK was at the Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton with James Stokes Ellis and it was here that he developed his interest in hand surgery. Having completed his FRCS and his orthopaedic training in County Durham, George spent the first decade of his career in the Middle East as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. From 1990 to 1991, working at the Northern Armed Forces Hospital in Saudi Arabia, he was part of the support effort for Desert Storm. He was subsequently appointed as chief of orthopaedic surgery at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah. In 1993, he returned back to UK when he was offered a post at the Princess Alexandra Royal Air Force Hospital in Wroughton. His military experience in Saudi Arabia and RAF Wroughton gave him specialist expertise in the management of polytrauma and war injuries. Throughout his career, he was always a passionate teacher and trainer. His unique, supportive style of training was ahead of his time and was inspirational to all those who trained with him. After the closure of RAF Wroughton, George moved to Gwynedd Hospital in 1996 and trained many generations of Welsh trainees until his retirement in 2007. He is remembered by those fortunate enough to learn from him as ‘Boss’ and lives on in their hearts and minds. I feel privileged to have been one those surgeons who were inspired by him and to this day, I still maintain the three principles of practice he told me on my first day as his registrar: ‘Be kind to your patients, be kind to your trainees and enjoy life.’ I have never seen so many patients admire and trust their surgeon in the way they did with George. George died peacefully at his home on 23 September 2018 aged 72. He was survived by his wife Judy, his brother, Karim, and his sister, Mary.