Donald Ross, cardiac surgery pioneer dies

A great loss . Saw him operate in Coimbatore (India) in 1995 - down to earth pleasant person - ever willing to teach and interact at length . RIP to a giant. Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, Head CTVS, Christian Medical College , Ludhiana, Punjab, India

The class of 1946 at the University of Cape Town Medical School was an illustrious one. In addition to Donald Ross, the class had other prominent cardiothoracic surgeons and pioneers - Christian Barnard, Rodney Hewitson (who assisted Chris at the first heart transplant), Ben Le Roux (second South African based surgeon to do a heart transplant, but better known as a general thoracic surgeon) and Alf Gunning of Oxford ( also did pioneering homografts work.) Donald was without doubt regarded as the brightest of the bunch. Whenever I was in London I used to watch Donald operate at the Harley Street Clinic. He regularly did 5 cases on a Saturday. Midway through the session he would take the OR staff and visitors for lunch at a delightful restaurant a few blocks away. His surgery was elegant and without wasted movement. It seemed like he was operating in slow motion, but the times reflected otherwise. He was a delightful raconteur and will be missed by many.

DNR was My mentor, teacher and friend,as well as a great friend of India. A man who enjoyed the goodness of life despite the limitations of an unrecognized genius. He gave his best and will live in our hearts forever as well as in thousands of hearts of patients who benefited from his phenomenal contribution

RIP Great loss to Cardiothoracic Surgeon community. He used to come to Madras in Madras Medical Mission and Vijaya Hospital 1992-94. When I was in International Heart school Bergamo 1999 he used to come on invitation of Prof Lucio Perenzan incidentally he died this year. Very pleasant and down to earth personality. Very kind to students.

I wish we could have him for few more years. I had a longing to work with him . May Almighty bless his soul for ever

Having known Donald Ross since we served as registrars under Lord Brock, I have had a longstanding friendship and respect for him. He had courage in introducing innovative surgical procedures and traveled widely to instruct others. In 1984, the DACCVS Society awarded him our highest honor, the International Recognition Award, at a symposium held in London. The surgical profession has lost one of its major pioneers in cardiac surgery. Denton A. Cooley, MD President Emeritus, Texas Heart Institute

I operated with him only a few times but he had a profound influence on me. Once from behind the operating table, he told me how to close a Pott shunt and do a complete repair of an uncorrected adult tetralogy with an embolized device to the LPA that the cardiologist had used trying to close the Pott. Another time, I assisted him in taking down a whole infected aortic root to bare LVOT and coronary ostia and implant an homograft in the LVOT. Every time I had to operate on a similar case myself, that memory from 20 some years earlier came really handy. He saved more lives than he actually operated on

It was sad to hear of Donald's death. We have been very close in the last 2 decades, and collaborated on developing the mitral pulmonary autograft procedure . I was always impressed with his keen, inquisitive mind, which he retained till his later years, and with his modest, unassuming personality. I am sure he has had, and will continue to have, a lasting influence on many surgeons worldwide, as well as on the specialty of cardiac surgery as a whole. Sami Kabbani, MD Sent from my iPad