Search Results for Medical Obituaries - Narrowed by: Spinal surgeon

First Title value, for Searching Chawla, Jagdish Chandra (1934 - 2013)

2024-05-04T08:09:36Z

by Sarah Gillam
Publication Date 2013-12-16 2015-12-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E004000-E004999/E004700-E004799
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/376966376966
Occupation Rehabilitation specialist Spinal surgeon
Details Jagdish Chandra Chawla was consultant in charge of the rehabilitation and spinal injuries department at Rookwood Hospital, Cardiff. He studied medicine at Osmania College, Hyderabad, qualifying MB BS in 1956. He gained his FRCS in 1965. Prior to his appointment at Rookwood Hospital, he was an associate professor of surgery at the University of Malaya, a senior registrar in neurosurgery at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, and deputy director of the Avon stroke unit, also at Frenchay Hospital. He was a member of the International Medical Society of Paraplegia and the author of papers on urinary tract infections in spinal cord injuries. Jagdish Chandra Chawla died on 16 January 2013. He was 79. He was survived by his widow Maureen.
Resource Identifier RCS: E004783
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching O’Brien, Andrew Charles (1964 - 2018)

2024-05-04T08:09:36Z

by Tina Craig
Publication Date 2019-06-06 2022-06-13
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009600-E009699
Occupation Spinal surgeon
Details Andrew Charles O’Brien was an East Grinstead surgeon who specialised in treating children with spinal problems. After working for some time at the Queen Victoria Hospital, he had fairly recently started a job at the paediatric department at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, returning to his family in West Sussex at weekends. In Belfast he had initiated pioneering work in correcting spinal deformities and arthritis in children. After developing cancer of the spine, he died in ten weeks in St Catherine’s Hospice, Crawley on 28 September 2018, aged 54. He was survived by his wife Krystyna, also 54, and daughters Anna and Helena.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009612
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Boeree, Nicholas Reginald (1958 - 2012)

2024-05-04T08:09:36Z

by Michael Edgar
Publication Date 2012-06-28 2013-02-20
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E002000-E002999/E002500-E002599
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/374722374722
Occupation Spinal surgeon
Details Nicholas Reginald Boeree was a consultant orthopaedic spinal surgeon based in Southampton who was well-known internationally in his chosen specialty for his clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of new spinal implants. He was a man of considerable energy and wide-ranging interests, including a long-standing passion for motorcycling, which sadly led to his untimely death in a head on collision. Nick was born on 11 June 1958 in Torbay. His father, Bruce, completed his pre-clinical medical education at Oriel College, Oxford, and clinical training at the London Hospital, Whitechapel. He specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology with the RAF, before taking up a civilian post in clinical research. His mother Margaret was a nurse at the London. Nick was the oldest of three children. He had a sister, Caroline, and a brother, Giles, neither of whom are involved in the medical profession. The name 'Boeree' is of Dutch origin, though the family have held British nationality for several generations. As determined by his father's posting, Nick's early years were spent in Changi, Singapore, where he lived until about the age of five. The family then returned to England, living initially in Buckinghamshire and then in the village of Roydon, Essex. He was educated at Broxbourne Comprehensive School in Hertfordshire. Having not quite obtained the necessary A levels to go to the London Hospital Medical College, he urgently dispatched a letter to the dean, explaining exactly why he should still be accepted for medical training. The dean was persuaded and Nick entered the London Hospital Medical College in 1976. He spent an extra year achieving a BSc in anatomy and qualified MB BS in June 1982. He spent his pre-registration house officer year at the London. From his early student days, Nick had always been keen to pursue a career in surgery and, accordingly, after house jobs, he spent a year as an anatomy demonstrator at the London, from 1983 to 1984. During this time he passed the primary FRCS examination. He then undertook his general surgical training as a senior house officer and registrar in Plymouth, proceeding to FRCS Edinburgh in the spring of 1988 and the English FRCS in July 1988. Nick was appointed to the Bristol registrar rotation in trauma and orthopaedics in September 1988. Here he soon acquired an interest in spinal surgery. In April 1990 he successfully applied for the spinal fellowship to Keele University, giving him the opportunity to work at the Hartshill Orthopaedic Centre, Stoke-on-Trent, with John Dove, who had developed his own sublaminar wire and rectangular steel rod implants both to correct spinal deformity and to stabilise single or multiple level fusions of the spine. This technique gained popularity among spinal surgeons during this period. Nick returned to the Bristol rotation in September 1991. He was appointed as an orthopaedic senior registrar to the Southampton University Hospitals in July 1992. Of particular note at this time was the development of Nick's clinical research interests. He was awarded a major British Orthopaedic Association Wishbone Trust research grant in 1991 to investigate the materials and techniques available for sublaminal wire fixation of the spine. This continued his collaboration with John Dove. In 1992 Nick gained a further research award from the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS). There followed a number of papers and presentations, culminating in two best paper prizes at international meetings. Other areas of research concerned MRI imaging of the knee, the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and a long-term review of total hip replacements in the young. Perhaps the pinnacle of his distinctive training years was the award of the Robert Jones Travelling Scholarship, which was supplemented by the Royal College of Surgeons New York Foundation Fellowship and the Zimmer Spinal Deformity Fellowship. These awards enabled him to travel widely to spinal centres in the USA during four months in the summer of 1994. Nick was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic spinal surgeon to the Southampton University Hospitals in April 1995. Later in 1998, with the amalgamation of the orthopaedic spinal and spinal neurosurgery services between Southampton and Winchester, he became joint clinical director in spinal surgery. He subsequently replaced Robert Jackson, on the latter's retirement in 1999, as the senior spinal orthopaedic surgeon. Over the years, Nick's working practice remained part-time NHS and part-time private practice, the latter based at the spine clinic, the Nuffield Hospital, Eastleigh. He continued to give priority to clinical research, despite the many demands on his time. Between 1995 and 2004 he gave multiple presentations on new anterior and posterior spinal instrumentation systems, with publications in the mainstream orthopaedic and spinal journals. Invited lectures took him to South Africa (in 1999 and 2001), Belgium (2000), Canada (2003) and to the USA for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). An example of his entrepreneurial nature was his study into ECG changes affecting surgeons during major surgery. His participation in this trial led his colleagues to assign to him the name 'robodoc' as his heart rate remained virtually unchanged throughout the entire operation. Despite his commitment to research-based management of spinal conditions, where he was happy to discuss the merits or otherwise of a particular form of management, Nick had an aversion to committees and where possible demonstrated his commitment to a particular cause by actions rather than words. In addition he had no strong political affiliation but was driven by what he felt was the best decision in his colleagues' or patients' interests. This was made evident by the many tributes by fellow surgeons which poured in from the UK, Europe and even the USA, as well as messages from appreciative patients expressing their gratitude not only for his operative skills but for his ability to listen and communicate. His family recall that he 'never wasted a moment', that he was constantly seeking out new challenges, physical and intellectual, both in his professional life and in his leisure time and how the pursuit of some of the riskier ventures often ended in a visit to the local casualty department. They remember the wonderful but inevitably exhausting family holidays, where sitting on a beach with a book was never an option. His boundless energy led him into a wide range of interests and activities, which included off-shore sailing (he owned a boat and had passed the yacht master exam), flying (he held a pilot's licence), scuba diving, cycling, walking in and around the New Forest where he lived, furniture building, ornithology (whilst a student in East London he cared for an injured kestrel and eventually trained it to fly to the lure, transporting it by bus to the open space of Wanstead Flats) and more recently astronomy. To this must be added of course his fateful passion for motorbikes. Nick married Alison (née Rigby), a qualified nurse who also trained at the London Hospital, a week after he qualified. They had two daughters, Catherine and Alexandra, and a son, Henry. He died in a motorcycle accident in the New Forest on 23 March 2012. He was 53. His family survived him.
Resource Identifier RCS: E002539
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Ransford, Andrew Oliver (1940 - 2021)

2024-05-04T08:09:36Z

by Michael Edgar
Publication Date 2021-03-18
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009900-E009999
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/384449384449
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon Spinal surgeon
Details Andrew Ransford, known to friends and colleagues as ‘Andy’, was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at University College Hospital (UCH), London and at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, who specialised in spinal surgery. He was born in Kenya, where his father, Oliver Ransford, was a doctor in the Colonial Service and an established author on African colonial history. His mother was Irene Ransford née Galloway. The family settled in Southern Rhodesia, where Andrew attended Milton Junior School and then Michaelhouse School in South Africa. There he excelled academically and learnt to play rugby. After a year at the University of Cape Town, he went to the UK to study medicine supported by a scholarship from the Rhodesian government, first at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (from 1959 to 1962) and then at University College Hospital medical school, London (from 1962 to 1965). He played rugby for his Cambridge college in the first XV team, which won cuppers, the intercollegiate competition. At UCH, he became captain of rugby and in later years was the club’s president. Andrew qualified in medicine in 1965, completing his preregistration house jobs at UCH. Andrew passed the primary FRCS exam in 1967 whilst demonstrating in anatomy at Cambridge attached to Emmanuel. He was appointed to the UCH general surgical registrar rotation, gaining experience at Barnet General, Edgware General, Great Ormond Street and Watford General hospitals, achieving the FRCS diploma in 1970. Also in 1970 Andrew joined the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital training programme. With a growing interest in spinal surgery, he reviewed the use of halo-pelvic traction in the preoperative correction of severe scoliosis, publishing his classic study in 1975 with Charles Manning as co-author (‘Complication of halo-pelvic distraction for scoliosis.’ *J Bone Joint Surg Br*. 1975 May;57[2]:131-7). His paper showed the technique achieved no structural correction beyond the existing spinal mobility and was not without complications. In 1975 Andrew obtained a fellowship at the University of Southern California attached to Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, Los Angeles. Among his spinal research projects, he investigated patients with failed low back surgery, usefully establishing that patients’ pain patterns, on the ‘Ransford pain drawing’, correlated to the patients’ psychological profile and were predictive of surgical outcomes. In 1977 Andrew was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at University College Hospital, London and in 1980 he was granted additional sessions in the scoliosis unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. Working with Michael Edgar and other colleagues, he helped to develop implants, which provided more stable surgical fixation. As new surgical techniques led to more rigorous scoliosis correction, spinal cord monitoring became a required safety net and a preferred alternative to the ‘wake up test’. A refined and reliable sensory monitoring procedure was developed over several years at Stanmore in collaboration with Stephen Jones, the neurophysiologist from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. This sensory monitoring technique became accepted worldwide, later to be combined with motor tract monitoring. Following NHS changes in 1991, Andrew decided to become a maximum part-time consultant at Stanmore, retaining his private practice at 107 Harley Street. At this time, he was elected to the Court of Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons, a role which he valued with its traditional and thorough exam system. He disapproved when multiple choice question papers were introduced. Andrew was instigator of an international trial, which established the successful use of artificial bone substitute in spinal fusions, published in 1997. With Alan Crockard, the neurosurgeon, Andrew founded the British Cervical Spine Society in 1981, which developed close links with the European Cervical Spine Research Society. The widely used ‘Ransford loop’, which comprises a 4mm steel loop attachable by wires or screws to the skull base was developed for occipitocervical surgical stabilisation in complex cases, which include trauma, rheumatoid disease and tumour excision. A less common use is in the stabilisation of the instability associated with occipitocervical malformation in Morquio-Brailsford syndrome and other MPS (mucopolysaccharide) dwarfing conditions in which Andrew developed expertise. Andrew felt strongly that spinal surgery should be multidisciplinary, eventually becoming a single specialty involving the whole spine. This was partially resolved when he simultaneously became president of the British Scoliosis Society and of the Cervical Spine Society in 1995. He suggested that the separate spinal societies should combine to form the British Association of Spinal Surgeons. Interdisciplinary conferences under ‘Britspine’ were set up. In 1994, Andrew and Alan Crockard were involved in establishing the Danny Hill surgical skills laboratory at the Royal College of Surgeons, set up to train surgeons of all specialties using simulation techniques and cadaveric specimens. During his orthopaedic career, Andrew authored or co-authored 34 papers and wrote a number of chapters in spinal and mainstream surgical textbooks. In 1993, health issues (atrial fibrillation and heart block requiring a pacemaker) reduced his stamina for spinal surgery, leading to his retirement from the NHS in 1997. However, his spinal experience kept him in demand as an international medico-legal expert until 2013. To add to his entrepreneurial skills, Andrew helped to start a short-lived biotech company in 1997, which was taken over by Nanoco, but not before several products were patented. Andy was a gentle giant with a sharp mind, balanced by a convivial manner and an infectious sense of humour. He was a sociable being, belonging to several luncheon and dining bodies. One of them, Ernie’s Club, in deference to Ernie Kirwan (a distinguished spinal surgeon), was formed from the earlier Westminster orthopaedic rotation and based at the Athenaeum. Andrew travelled widely both professionally and for leisure. With Penny and his family (Philippa, Mark, Christopher and Helen) he enjoyed skiing holidays (including the Orthopaedic Study Group or Ski Club in Zürs) and trips to southern Africa to visit family. Andrew and Penny also went on several Royal College of Surgeons tours – including to China (in 2007) and to Dubai and India (in 2010). Over the years, Andrew found time for game shooting, collecting antique silhouette miniatures, contributing to a stock market investment club and even warily crewing for colleagues who sailed. Later he and Penny took up salmon fishing, sculpturing and the luxury of Swan Hellenic Cruises. Even in his debilitating last illness due to leukaemia, Andrew never lost his wide interest in life, combined with a jovial outlook and cautious, questioning mind. He undoubtedly lived up to his reputation as the ‘The thinking person’s orthopaedic surgeon’. He died on 24 January 2021 at the age of 80.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009936
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Crock, Henry Vernon (1929 - 2018)

2024-05-04T08:09:36Z

by Sean Hughes
Publication Date 2019-03-04 2019-07-03
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009500-E009599
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon Spinal surgeon
Details Henry Vernon Crock (known as Harry) was a pioneering Australian spinal surgeon. He was born in Perth, Western Australia on 14 September 1929, the son of Vernon Crock and Annie Crock née Doyle. He studied medicine at the University of Melbourne with his identical twin brother Gerard William Crock, who later became a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne. In 1953 Harry graduated with honours with gold medals in medicine and surgery, and began his medical career at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne. In 1957, he won a Nuffield scholarship and travelled to England and was appointed as the Nuffield Dominion clinical assistant in orthopaedic surgery at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford and a lecturer in orthopaedic surgery at Oxford University. The latter position in Josep Trueta’s department was where he developed a lifelong interest in the anatomy of the blood supply of bone. From this period, Harry published several important articles on the vascular supply of the vertebral column and on the arterial supply of the upper end of the human femur, including ‘The arterial supply and venous drainage of the vertebral column of the dog’ (*J Anat* 1960, Jan;94:88-99) and ‘A revision of the anatomy of the arteries supplying the upper end of the human femur’ (*J Anat* 1965, Jan;99:77-88). On returning to Australia, Harry was appointed to the post of senior honorary orthopaedic surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, where he helped to build an orthopaedic unit with a particular interest in spinal surgery. At that time many of his patients were migrant workers, with little knowledge of English or of the Australian legal system, who had sustained serious work-related back injuries. Having diagnosed and managed their conditions, Harry supported these workers in their claims for compensation and he was renowned for his skill in providing expert witness evidence. In 1973 Harry published his work on the venous drainage of the human lumbar vertebral body (‘Observations on the venous drainage of the human vertebral body’ *J Bone Joint Surg Br* 1973 Aug;55[3]:528-33). In 1976, he introduced the concept of isolated disc resorption as a cause of back pain and resulting in nerve root compression (‘Isolated lumbar disk resorption as a cause of nerve root canal stenosis’ Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1976 Mar-Apr;[115]:109-15). In 1986 Harry Crock returned to the United Kingdom and joined the staff of the Cromwell Hospital in London. He was also appointed as an honorary consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Hammersmith Hospital and an honorary senior lecturer at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London. At Hammersmith Harry and I operated together and undertook research on the neurovascular supply of the vertebral end plate in patients who had undergone anterior spinal fusion to treat low back pain. Harry’s interest in anatomy was developed at an early stage of his career when he was senior demonstrator in anatomy at the University of Melbourne and on his return to the UK in 1986 Harry was appointed as a visiting lecturer and Arnott demonstrator in the department of anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons. One of his significant anatomical contributions was the method he developed of special injection and photographic techniques in order to illustrate the blood supply of the human skeleton and the spinal cord. This led to many publications, of which the last, *An atlas of the vascular anatomy of the skeleton and spinal cord* (London, Martin Dunitz, 1996) is the most comprehensive and beautifully illustrated work of the blood supply of the spine currently available. His classical demonstration of the venous congestion of the nerve root resulting in nerve root stenosis has stood the test of time and continues to be applied in the surgery of spinal nerve root decompression (‘Normal and pathological anatomy of the lumbar spinal nerve root canals’ *J Bone Joint Surg Br* 1981;63B[4]:487-90). Harry Crock was also someone who was prepared to develop new methods in surgery. He embraced the retroperitoneal approach for anterior lumbar surgery, designing special instruments in order to achieve an inter-body lumbar fusion. In 1983, he published his classical book *The practice of spinal surgery* (Wien, New York, Springer Verlag, 1983), which is still essential reading for spinal surgeons today. Harry continued to publish throughout his long career and later became interested in spinal cord injuries and their management, something which may have harked back to his days in Australia when he worked with Sir George Montario Bedbrook. Harry was also actively involved in teaching orthopaedic surgery, both to undergraduates, in his early days, and later, especially spinal surgery, to postgraduates. He trained numerous spinal surgeons from around the world, particularly from the Far East, Australia and North America and, unsurprisingly given his gentle wit and easy charm, was a popular lecturer throughout the world, notably in Europe, USA, Japan, China and India. Harry deservedly had an international reputation as a spinal surgeon and lecturer, receiving many awards and prizes, including several from the Australian Orthopaedic Association and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In 1984, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia for services to orthopaedics. His twin brother was also made an officer in 1985. Harry was a founding member of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine and in 1985 was elected president. In 1990, he was elected a corresponding fellow of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and in 1997 was made an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary DSc from the University of Melbourne. Working with Harry was always a pleasure. His surgical skills were obvious and his overriding principles of humanity and care for his patients were paramount. Having said that, when convinced that his opinion and plan of management was in the patient’s best interest, he was always prepared to strongly defend his views. He was also not afraid to be critical of poor standards of surgery by others. His patience, tolerance and understanding of patients with complex spinal problems, resulting in long-standing back pain was immense. He had many interests apart from spinal surgery, in particular a collection of paintings, including the work of the English painter David Smith, who had been an official artist with the British Antarctic Survey. Several of the paintings in Harry’s home in London were by David Smith, who also painted Harry’s portrait, now in the National Gallery, Canberra, Australia. In retirement Harry developed a new career, becoming an enthusiastic mosaicist. Harry was a naturally kind man who derived pleasure from his many friends and had a genuine regard for their interests. Some, like Sir Roy Calne, whom he first met in 1957 when they were in Oxford, remained lifelong friends, while others whom he taught or collaborated with greatly enjoyed the company of this most humane of men. Harry Crock died peacefully on 21 April 2018. He was 88. He will be missed by those who were lucky enough to be his patients and who benefited not only from his surgical skills but also from the way he so willingly gave his time to them. And he will be sorely missed by his family, particularly his wife, Carmel, who is also medically qualified and who married Harry when they were in Oxford in 1958. Carmel worked closely with Harry throughout his career and published several papers with him. They had five children – Catherine, Elizabeth, Carmel, Vernon and Damian. Two of their three daughters are medical doctors, and the third has a PhD in nursing ethics and HIV/AIDS. It can clearly be said that Harry Crock was a master spinal surgeon who cared for his patients and who produced new information on the arterial supply of the vertebra, the spinal cord and the nerve roots. Fortunately, Harry’s many contributions to spinal surgery and spinal anatomy will live on in an annual lecture organised by DISCS, the charity he established to fund research into the causes, mechanisms and management of back pain. The DISCS Henry V Crock lecture is now held at the meeting of the Society for Back Pain Research in England.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009580
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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