Dr Sam Michael Tucker

Inventor of auditory cradle to assess deafness in newborns

THE EMINENT paediatrician Sam Tucker, who has died aged 91, was a specialist in the deafness of newborn babies, heart conditions and ADHD. He was acclaimed for his role as the medical half of the Brunel University team who set up a hearing foundation at Hillingdon Hospital and invented the first portable cradle to detect deafness in a newborn baby within the first week of life.

The auditory reponse cradle was pioneering technology, since previously it could take up to a year to determine whether a child had hearing problems, by which time its development was already seriously impaired. Tucker admitted that the newborn hearing unit at Hillingdon Hospital was probably his finest achievement. It is now the international testing standard for newborn hearing loss.

The middle of three sons, Sam Tucker was born in Benoni, South Africa to Harry and Ray Tucker, who had arrived there from Lithuania in the early 1900’s. Like his elder brother Mossie and younger brother Percy, Sam was educated at Benoni High School, where he developed a lifelong love of football. In his youth, Tucker played football for the Eastern Transvaal and later represented South Africa in the first Maccabi games in Israel in 1950.

He left school in 1944 during the Second World War and joined the South African Air Force. His training as a navigator stood him in good stead when he volunteered to serve with the fledgling Israeli air force in 1948 as part of the renowned South African unit of the élite fighting force, the Palmach. He flew over Syria in a flying fortress plane and as a key navigator, participated in many critical air force missions ,releasing bombs by hand.

Sam spent his 21st birthday in Israel but returned to South Africa to continue his studies. After his wartime experiences, he chose to study at the Witwaterstrand University Medical School in Johannesburg where he met his future wife, the beautiful Fine Arts student and ‘Rag’ Queen, Barbara Kaplan. They married on December 13, 1953 in her home town of Durban, Natal and lived in South Africa for the first year of their marriage. In early 1955, Sam came to England with Barbara to further his medical studies, eventually opting to remain in England.

He began his medical career at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, before moving to St. George’s and he was appointed a Consultant at Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge in 1965. Over the years he was responsible for the training and mentoring of many renowned paediatricians and he was especially proud of helping so many junior doctors progress through the medical ranks. He also went to Russia several times to establish the Friends of Russian Children charity, and helped to save many children’s lives by teaching local doctors the rudiments of paediatrics.

As a great advocate of the NHS, Tucker was totally dedicated to his work and his patients, often working a seven day week without a break and always effectively ‘on call’. Revered by his peers, he had an enviable rapport with the children but did not always find it easy to suppress their over-protective parents. However, he earned their respect with his superb diagnostic skills and medical knowledge. He was twice President of the Paediatric Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, as well as Senior Treasurer of the Royal Society of Medicine, regularly heading committees until his retirement.

Privately, Tucker had rooms in Harley Street where he saw over 20,000 babies and young children for over 25 years; he was also chairman of the medical committee at the prestigious Portland Hospital. A leading authority on the treatment of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder & ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), he was one of the first to recognise that bad behaviour could be derived from a biochemical imbalance of the brain, rather than just sheer naughtiness.

After having three children, Barbara and Sam Tucker moved to Mill Hill, N London, where they helped found today’s Mill Hill Synagogue, in which Sam was continuously involved.

As a veteran of Israel’s 1948 war, he was honoured by Mill Hill Synagogue in April this year at a Yom Hazikaron ceremony. He proudly lit a candle and said a prayer to remember the heroes of all the Israeli conflicts. He is survived by Barbara, his daughter Dana, sons Mark and Trevor, younger brother Percy, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild born in 2017.

Dr Sam Tucker: born October 15, 1926 Died June 11, 2018