Abstract
My friend and colleague Dr Lawrence Wilson died suddenly in November 2024 aged 52. His reach and impact as an anaesthetist and Intensive care consultant were evident in his final days as every clinician who interacted with friends and family while he was in hospital had a fondly remembered story to tell of when they had worked together or what he had taught them.
Lawrence was born in Burnley, he was the son of Richard and Frances (nee Ward) Wilson. The family moved to Preston when he was young; he was always very proud to be the son of a railway man and long holidays accessed through the European rail network endowed him with a love of travel and adventure which endured throughout his life. He attended Newman College where he chose arts A-levels before completing a pre-med year and graduating in medicine from the University of Manchester. Amongst his other achievements many will remember his acting and directing in the annual Med school panto, few who witnessed it will have forgotten the combination of Doctor Marten boots, tutu, rugby shirt and magic wand.
Early on in his medical career he chose to pursue anaesthesia and ICU. Having attended a local FRCA exam preparation course he was one of four who had the temerity to write to suggest how the course could be improved. The group were promptly given responsibility to run the course and so began 15 years of involvement with the Mersey School of Anaesthesia where his cheerful enthusiasm, focus on the useful and practical, skill at distilling and explaining difficult concepts and high standards permitted many hundreds who attended these courses to thrive. It is still the case that fellow consultants and trainees are heard to remark, ‘Lawrence taught me that’.
For 4 years and during the COVID pandemic he was the clinical lead for the intensive care unit in his hospital. Data was collected nationally as to how units performed with respect to clinical outcomes and because of this Lawrence was invited to join the NHSE in reach programme where the best performing teams helped others to achieve similar outcomes. At the same time, and at a time when healthcare wasn’t all that attractive a career option, Lawrence and the ICU had many cards and letters of thanks expressing their gratitude that they worked on this ICU where they felt as looked after as those with COVID. This sense of care and support was, in large part, down to him.
Lawrence would never describe himself as an athlete and frequently debated with his PE teacher the relative merit of simply crossing the games hall to get to the other fire exit rather than getting there via five miles of cross country running but his spiritual home was in the French Alps, skiing. It was the company he loved most, whether it was old friends or increasingly, children and god children. The all-day conversations punctuated only by a ski to the bottom of the next lift before finding a band in a bar in the evening was where he was in his element. Two bands were booked for his wedding on this basis, the first, sadly, became unavailable after significant chart success.
He leaves his wife Julie and children Alexander and Isobel.