Surgeon and pioneer of keyhole surgery

Born: August 7, 1940;

Died: January 10, 2017

JIM Hay, who has died, aged 76, was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and a pioneer of keyhole surgery, which greatly reduced recovery time for his patients.

Serving his time at the Royal, Western and Victoria Infirmaries in Glasgow, he spent most of his career - some 25 years - in Paisley, initially at the Royal Alexandria Infirmary, before transferring to the new Royal Alexandria Hospital. He was also terrific a rugby player, whose playing career had to take second place to his calling in life, and golfer with a handicap that might have been a good bit lower had he been able to putt.

He was born in Ayr, the eldest of three children, and attended Ayr Academy, from where he emerged in 1958 as head boy, and captain of a star-studded rugby team. Many of those 15 boys went on to enjoy good club careers, but three were touched by greatness. Mike Denness went on to captain Kent and England at cricket, Ian McLauchlan became a British Lion and captained the Scottish rugby XV a record number of times, while Ian Ure played in the Scottish League-winning Dundee team of 1962, for Arsenal and Manchester United and won 11 caps for Scotland when competing for a place with the likes of Billy McNeill, Ron Yeats and Ron McKinnon. He also captained Scotland in their victory over Israel in the first match of the 1967 World Tour.

To have three national captains, in three different sports, in one team is perhaps unique, but Jim Hay was very much the leader of that team. On leaving school, he joined Ayr Rugby Club, but the demands of his medical studies meant he could never devote the required time to fully exploring his talent for the game.

However, he was a member of the Ayr VII which, in 1964, became the first septet from the club to win Ayr's own sevens – it would be more than 20 years before Ayr won it again, with Jim Hay's son Andy a member of the victorious team.

Unable to devote time to the first team, Jim Hay became a valued member of the Ayr A2 XV, a “social” XV in which the paramount thing was to have fun, and, they never enjoyed themselves better than when the half-backs were JH Hay at stand-off, with his brother-in-law WJM (Bill) Mowat at scrum-half. Both excellent players, at that level, they were lethal.

Graduating from Glasgow University, he served his time at the Royal, Western and Victoria Infirmaries as he scrambled up the ladder to consultant surgeon level before settling in Paisley.

Here he was one of the pioneers of keyhole surgery and was often called on to tackle persistent injuries to athletes, including a fair number of rugby players. Top-flight talent such as Ayr and Scotland B full-back John Brown would be grateful to him for carrying out sometimes innovative operations which prolonged or salvaged careers.

Jim Hay's work was seen in sportsmen across a wide range of sports, while he even gave of his time to Scottish Ballet, in helping keep their dancers active. But, rugby was always his number one sport and it was no surprise when he was asked to become the team doctor for the Glasgow District XV, before, in 1991, he was summoned to Murrayfield to become Scotland team doctor.

The players in the international team dubbed him Medic One and he was particularly effective as team doctor on two tours, to North America in 1991 and to the South Pacific in 1993. He had the young James Robson, now established as the team doctor when it comes to rugby, with him, and Jim Hay, as much a team psychologist as healer, is fondly remembered by the players on those trips.

Ayr Rugby Club was an important part of his life. Brother-in-law Bill, and Jim's brother Stewart both captained the club, while his son Andrew also played for the Ayr first team, and for GHK, while Jim Hay, when he had the time, would turn up to cheer on the club. Another of his sons, Kenneth, had a spell with GHK and was a contemporary of Gavin and Scott Hastings for Watsonians, the club for which youngest son Graeme also played.

His second sporting love was golf. He was a member at his local southside club, Haggs Castle, as well as Royal Troon and held honorary life membership at Ayr and at Cartha Queen's Park rugby clubs. Alasdair Hay shone on his father's second sporting love and is now a professional golfer.

Jim Hay had been suffering from Corticobasel Degeneration (CBD), a rare degenerative illness which exhibits traits of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

He is survived by Marjory, with whom he fell in love at Ayr Academy, their four sons and their families.

MATT VALLANCE