Abstract
Rob (Bob) Eyres (25 February 1944–15 February 2020) will be remembered as a perspicacious, inspirational and charismatic larger-than-life extrovert, a bon-vivant, a brilliant anaesthetist with enormous intellect, a gastronome and an oenophile with a razor-sharp palate and a penchant for motor sports. He was a world-renowned and major contributor to paediatric anaesthesia, intensive care and pain management as a clinician, researcher, teacher, mentor and administrator. Internationally, Rob’s contribution was legendary, helping forge the now-thriving global paediatric anaesthesia community.
Rob was born in Deniliquin, New South Wales, where he attended the local primary school until grade 6. In 1957, he moved to Melbourne where he boarded at Caulfield Grammar School and rowed as stroke in the First VIII. He matriculated in 1961 with top marks.
According to his mother Elizabeth, Rob was a born engineer (which became evident later in his life). His older sister Margaret had studied nursing and said to Rob, ‘why don’t you do medicine, as that is engineering of the body’.
He began studying medicine at Melbourne University in 1962. After graduating, Rob travelled to the United Kingdom on a cargo boat as the ship’s doctor. He returned to Melbourne in late 1969 to marry his wife Olivia and they set off to London together where Rob started anaesthesia training at Whipps Cross Hospital. Rob was the third person awarded the Fellowship Prize by the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, on the results of his January 1974 Final Fellowship Examination.
Kester Brown got wind of a bright young Australian anaesthetist and paid Rob a visit at his home to interview him when he was visiting London. Kester offered him a six-month registrar job at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. In 1975, Rob, Olivia and their first daughter Sophie returned to Australia aboard the TSS Fairstar, again with Rob as the ship’s doctor.
The hospital made an error, appointing him for 12 months instead of six. In his book Catalyst, Kester wrote, ‘Rob proved to be an outstanding, although somewhat unconventional registrar’. In October 1976, Rob was admitted to the Fellowship of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australian College of Surgeons by examination. The following year he was appointed to a consultant post at RCH.
Rob soon took charge of cardiac anaesthesia, developing improvements in cardiac anaesthesia and perfusion. His unique skill set was recognised beyond the operating room; he provided services in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, covering Thursday night and weekend shifts for some 20 years. His special anaesthesia interests were cardiac surgery and catheterisation, and urology. The latter led to seminal research into the pharmacokinetics of local anaesthetics, especially for epidural anaesthesia that he helped establish at RCH. This in turn led to international research collaborations and involvement in Phase II trials for levobupivacaine.
Rob’s broad clinical experience and people skills led to his increasing involvement in senior executive roles, including as Divisional Director of Specialist Services and Co-deputy Director, Anaesthesia and Pain Management. From 2000 to 2004, Rob served as Director of the Department. After stepping down from the role for health reasons, Rob continued providing high-quality clinical care and played an important mentor role for a number of years.
Rob was active outside of the RCH Anaesthesia and Pain Management Department. He became a member of the Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Anaesthesia Research Group in 1974. He served a full 12-year term (1985–1998) as an examiner for Primary Examination of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and later taught at the primary examination course. He was elected to the Executive Committee of the Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia in New Zealand and Australia (SPANZA) when it was formed in 1998 and served as Treasurer until 2004. He served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the journal Pediatric Anesthesia.
Rob’s sharp clinical acumen, skills and knowledge commanded the respect of surgeons, intensivists, paediatricians, nursing staff, anaesthesia technologists, perfusionists, administrative staff and anaesthetists. He had a brilliant mind and could get to the nub of a problem, quickly expressing his view clearly and concisely. He gravitated to those who really cared about improving and developing the surgical and anaesthesia professions and his sage advice was widely sought by members of both. He taught, influenced and mentored many, supporting their quest for higher achievement. He had a unique ability to engage people from diverse backgrounds, to disarm them, make them feel important and heard, and to make them laugh. Most who knew him have a Rob story to tell. Many cannot be repeated here!
His contribution to anaesthesia was recognised by being awarded Honorary Membership of the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists in Great Britain and Ireland in 2006, and in 2008 the SPANZA medal that conferred Honorary Life Membership of the Society. In 2017, Rob was honoured with an RCH Grand Round presentation, ‘On the Shoulders of Giants.’ (https://blogs.rch.org.au/grandrounds/2017/07/26/on-the-shoulders-of-giants/
People developed a fierce loyalty to Rob. Many will fondly recall his bonhomie, signature RM Williams boots with the Cuban heel, his passion for MotoGP, Formula 1, Bathurst, Ducati motorbikes, his beloved MV Augusta and his extraordinary palate for, and knowledge of, wine. He also enjoyed travelling ‘north of Echuca’ for holidays with Olivia.
His engineering abilities were demonstrated in the early 1980s when Rob extensively renovated the house in which he and his family would live; Rob did the demolishing, sanding, plastering, tiling, wiring and plumbing. He was particularly proud of the basement wine cellar he designed and built.
Recently Margaret asked Rob whether he had made the right career choice. After a moment of thought, he said: ‘I would have made a better engineer than a doctor, but I’m a happier doctor than I would have been an engineer’.
Rob Eyres is survived by his loving wife Olivia, his daughters Sophie and Cassie and his sister, Margaret.
