John Beavis first became involved in Primary Trauma Care (PTC) when he and Sir Terence English approached PTC Foundation to introduce the course in Peshawar, in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. It was a successful start; later on spread to Karachi and throughout the country and into other areas. John was born in Brighton in June 1940, and grew up in a large, loving Scots-Irish family. A bright boy, he took degrees at University College London in biochemistry, followed by medicine, qualifying in 1967. He quoted to The Guardian: “A society that gives to you makes you want to give back”.
After a career in the Royal Marines as a medical officer John worked as a Trauma and Orthopedic surgeon in the NHS. He retired at the age of 53 following a heart attack and a subsequent coronary bypass operation, but following this he answered an appeal requesting British surgeons to volunteer for hospitals in Bosnia and work during civil war.
Later on Simon Oliver and John founded the charity IDEALS (International Disaster and Emergency Aid with Long Term Support (ideals.org.uk). Since then, John, as founding chairman, coordinated teams of volunteer British doctors, bringing medical supplies, PTC and other training to troubled areas, of the world
John was appointed Hunterian professor of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2003, and his chosen subject was the management of war injuries. John went to Sri Lanka to help victims of tsunami. A year later he was in northwest Pakistan, coordinating the flow of medical supplies, tents and foods for a village ravaged by an earthquake.
For the past decade, John’s main focus was Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, supervising orthopedic surgeons as they handled complex operations, including open fractures and bullet wounds to the head and chest.
A non-smoker, John died from lung cancer on 5 December 2018. He was appointed OBE for services to victims of war and disaster. His awards included the Bosnian Medal of Honor, Times Active Life Sternberg Award and the Hugh O’Flaherty International Humanitarian Award in 2016. John remarked: “I am a very reluctant recipient as I am convinced that I have done nothing out of the ordinary.”
Maira Bailey
PTC Foundation in Oxford, UK