Appreciation
Donald Sylvester Gilchrist Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Glasgow) MB ChB (Glasgow) DTM and H (Liverpool), ECFMG died peacefully in the Royal Preston Hospital on Sunday 1st March aged 87, surrounded by his loving family. He will be much missed by all who knew him.
Donald was a warm compassionate and highly able man blessed with an abounding curiosity of spirit and unshakable faith. He remained true to his Christian Socialist roots right up to his death.
Born in Glasgow in 1927 and educated by Jesuits, he carried out his National Service in the Royal Army Service Corps and the 15th Parachute Battalion (Glasgow). After working passage on a ship around the world, he settled down to study medicine at Glasgow then Liverpool.
His love for Africa and its peoples took him out to Tanzania (Ndanda and Sengerema and Mwanza) and on to Kenya (initially to Kakamega and Eldoret). His early working life was spent mostly in rural Mission Hospitals before he moved on to Nairobi and other things.
In his prime his pioneering work alongside Sir Michael Wood for the AMREF Flying Doctor Service in East Africa (notably carrying out famine relief work in Ethiopia) and as the District Surgeon in Turkana and Kaloleni saved countless lives and earned the admiration and respect of all his peers. One went on to describe him as 'a giant among men' for his sheer expertise and work-rate.
During the first gulf war he worked alongside Dr Mahler in the Ahli Arab Hospital in Jerusalem and with refugees in The Gaza Strip. There were also stints in Abu Dhabi, Tristan Da Chuna and in the Solomon Islands.
In later life he carried out locum work throughout the UK to fund ongoing voluntary work in Kenya. He worked right up to his 80th birthday, when he was forced to retire due to ill health. He lived out the rest of his life quietly in Majorca and Lancashire with his family, dedicating much of his time to church and spiritual matters.
My father was a humble man who was never afraid to make a principled stand, sometimes to great personal cost. His defence of the public ethos did not always sit easy with funders.
He was sustained by his Christian faith through the good times, the bad and his last illness. Definitely one of a kind. May he Rest in Peace.
Robert Gilchrist
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