Mr Hugh McDonald

DISTINGUISHED general surgeon, Hugh McDonald, died aged 94 on March 28 at the James Paget University Hospital.Prior to the opening of the James Paget Hospital, weekend surgical emergency cases were admitted to either the Great Yarmouth or Lowestoft General Hospitals, where many Lowestoft residents will have benefitted from Mr McDonald's surgical skills.

DISTINGUISHED general surgeon, Hugh McDonald, died aged 94 on March 28 at the James Paget University Hospital.

Prior to the opening of the James Paget Hospital, weekend surgical emergency cases were admitted to either the Great Yarmouth or Lowestoft General Hospitals, where many Lowestoft residents will have benefitted from Mr McDonald's surgical skills.

He was born in London on May 29, 1914, and trained at Guy's Hospital. He was an outstanding student and passed his examinations for the Fellowships of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of both Edinburgh and London at the age of 26.

He was posted to the former Great Yarmouth General hospital in 1946 by the Emergency Medical Service. Hugh McDonald practised every surgical specialty, except otolaryngology and ophthalmology, excelling in every case. His patients never failed to make an extremely rapid and complete recovery.

During his innovative career, he made two important surgical advances. He devised an operation which saved the lives of those suffering the ill-effects of consuming putrescent fish. He also developed a greatly enhanced technique for the major operations of partial or total gastrectomy.

Following the death of his first wife, he remarried, but his second wife also predeceased him. He leaves two daughters and a son by his first marriage, and grandchildren.