BJJ News
J. Powell
Obituary
Ronald Huckstep
on Huckstep was born in Chefoo, Northern China on 22 July 1926. His early years were spent in Shanghai where his teacher parents lived; his father was the Director of Education. The looming war prompted his father to have his matriculation students complete their examinations with carbon copies: these were subsequently dispatched to England, a move that proved very useful at the end of the war. Placed under house arrest with his family in 1941, Ron was able to start his studies in engineering at a French university. Using a special pass he was able to ride his bicycle across the city to attend classes. He maintained a lifelong interest in
R
1926-2015
engineering and material science, which he brought to his subsequent orthopaedic practice. By 1943, Ron and his family had been placed in an internment camp, where he remained for the rest of the war. He and several other promising students were assisted by Dr Donald Cater who provided them with further education, in particular, secret medical studies. The boys were so emaciated that they were able to carry out anatomical studies on their own bodies, the bones being so prominent. Following repatriation to the UK in 1946, with Dr Cater’s recommendation and his previously forwarded examination results, Ron was offered a place to read Medicine at Cambridge University. Clinical placements were completed at the Middlesex Hospital, leading to work as a House Officer. In an effort to improve his exposure to surgery, and as his parents had ‘retired’ there to continue teaching, he went to Kenya in 1952. Overcrowding in the camps that had sprung up as a result of the Mau Mau uprising led to an outbreak of typhoid. From his management of these patients, the meticulous recording of his results and the development of better protocols, Ron was awarded a Doctorate of Medicine by Cambridge University. This formed the basis for his book about typhoid, which was used throughout the world for many years afterwards. This work also formed the basis of his Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1959. Returning to England he furthered his surgical training in various disciplines, obtaining Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and undertook further training in orthopaedic surgery at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. In 1960 he married Ann (née Macbeth) and returned to Africa, where he took up a Senior Lectureship at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He shortly became Professor of Orthopaedics, developing the department and its services throughout the country. A significant proportion of his work was directed towards the management of polio and the considerable challenge of helping people where there were severely limited resources. The principles he developed were implemented throughout
31