Professor Rodney Philip Hewitson

Professor Rodney Hewitson (1924 – 2013)

Brief Biography:

Professor Rodney Hewitson was Professor Chris Barnard's right-hand man during the first heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in 1967, His wife Lulu was murdered in a Home Invasion on 14/09/2008

"That he lost his wife in this way is awful and ironic," said Professor Johan Brink of the Chris Barnard Memorial Hospital's Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

"As a doctor, he had dedicated himself to the less fortunate. Over the years he helped hundreds of people who had been stabbed in the chest. He was an extremely committed doctor and a mentor for heart surgery all over the world."

One of the couple's sons, Dr John Hewitson, followed in his father's footsteps as a heart surgeon while another, Professor Bruce Hewitson of the University of Cape Town, is an internationally recognised climate expert. A third son is a pilot in Mozambique.

Professor Rodney Hewitson passed away peacefully on 29 January 2013, shortly after his 89th birthday. Born on 18 January 1924, he graduated from the University of Cape Town with an MBChB in 1947. Amongst his many contributions to the Hospital and the Faculty was his significant role in the first heart transplant and his brilliance as a thoracic surgeon.

Professor Hewitson was highly regarded and an inspiration to his colleagues and students. He will be remembered by countless general and cardiothoracic surgery registrars and visiting fellows as a superb surgeon with an uncanny clinical acumen and as an excellent teacher. He was awarded the Distinguished Surgeon Award in 1988. He was involved in one of the first International Lung Cancer Study Groups (Working Party in Lung Cancer) and was the guest of honour at the first Conference on Lung Cancer at UCT in 1993 for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Deeply religious, he was an extremely humble man and a role model. In the high-profile world of cardiothoracic surgery he stood out as one willing to serve, and as Chris Barnard said, “always willing to stand at the back" . A former colleague remembers that when he started at Groote Schuur Hospital as a young specialist treating patients with lung cancer, Prof Hewitson was 100% supportive and helpful despite he himself working in a demanding environment.

Prof Hewitson retired in 1989. A few years later, he lost his wife, Lulu Stephane Meiring in a tragic burglary at their home. He devoted his retirement to community-based church work in Hermanus.

…a superb surgeon with an uncanny clinical acumen and an excellent teacher.

from: http://www.health.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/1...

Links to Media articles:

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• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Aug 6 2019, 13:33:31 UTC