Graham Meikle
Rhodesian-born general surgeon who made a life in Scotland
Graham Meikle MB.CHB. FRCS Ed. FRCS London, surgeon. Born: 16 May, 1933, in Salisbury, Rhodesia. Died: 13 April 2021 in Crichton, Midlothian, aged 87
When Graham Meikle carried out his first appendectomy it was in less than ideal circumstances – aboard a mail ship in the south Atlantic two days out of Cape Town. He had just decided working in Africa wasn’t for him and was sailing back to Britain when the call went up for a doctor. The young Edinburgh University medicine graduate swiftly obliged, diagnosed acute appendicitis and advised the captain to return to shore immediately. The master refused. The mail could not be late.
Meikle was left with little option. He had observed the procedure but never actually performed it himself. However, he held his nerve and, with the assistance of a fellow passenger with some anaesthetics experience, plus the ship’s first aid kit, he operated successfully – despite the patient starting to come round during surgery.
It was a mark of the man’s practicalandpragmaticnature, traits that served him well duringasubsequentdistinguished career as an old school general surgeon in Leith and East Lothian.hewasonlytenwhen, influenced by the doctors in his family–grandfatherjamesand uncles Jack and Jim – he decidedsurgerywaswherehisfuture lay.acircuitousroutefollowed, from Rhodesia to Scotland, Rhodesiaandbackagainbefore he succeeded in his metier.
Born in Salisbury, Rhodesia, he was the son of Cyril Meikle, whofarmedavastranchinheritedafterhisforebearsemigrated from Lanarkshire, and his wifenancy.thecouplehadtwo boys but tragedy struck when theirfatherdiedafterhavinghis tonsils out when younger son Graham was a baby. The ranch was sold and the estate put into trustfortheboys’educationand upbringing. Their widowed motherreturnedtobritainand, afteraspellinliverpool,moved to London’s Kensington.
The boys went to Huyton Hill Preparatory School near Liverpool and were evacuated to the Lakedistrictaftertheoutbreak of the Second World War. Unable to return to London during thebombing,theirmothertook them back to Rhodesia where theystayedwiththeirunclejim, a government medical officer,
and his family outside Marandellas. Jim, the only doctor for 40 miles, ran regular clinics in rural villages and treated leprosy patients. Graham recalled going out with him around the practice, clinging to the seat of the car while his uncle hared roundtheareaathighspeed.at Ruzawiprepschoolheenjoyed sports, riding and camping in the bush and began a lifelong love of using tools and woodworking, before attending the prestigious Hilton College in South Africa.
His uncle Jack, a former missionaryanddoctorinliverpool, then encouraged his application to read medicine at Edinburghandsobegansomeofthe happiest days of his life, sailing on the Forth, fencing competitivelyfortheuniversityandzippingaroundthecityinhismorgan. Ever grateful to the father he had never known for the trustfundsforhiseducation,he also worked hard at his studies.
After graduating in 1957 he became a house officer at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary before returning to Rhodesia, where he worked for six months in a bush hospital and in a private GP’S surgery in Salisbury for a further six months. By now he knew he would not continue to workinafricaandtookthemail ship back to Liverpool. Back in Britain he returned to Scotland
and spent a year at Edinburgh University,teachingandsupervising anatomy dissections. He did both his medical and surgical house posts at Edinburgh Royal but it was the surgical training he loved and by the time he became a senior registrar he was also working at Leith hospital.
In 1962 he met Fiona at a wedding and they had a whirlwind romance – engaged within six weeks, wed within six months. They had a son and daughter and moved to Pittsburgh when he did a year’s research work. Returningtohismedicalcareer, he gained his first consultancy post in 1972, sharing his time between Roodlands, Leith and the Eastern General hospitals. Bythistimetheirthirdchildhad arrived and moving to a large, old Victorian house in Eskbank gave him an opportunity to practise his DIY. He attended St John’s and King’s Park Church, becoming an elder.
He later became a full-time consultantatroodlands,where he spent 19 years. The hospital had an acute surgery department and a busy A&E team and he could find himself in demand at all times of the day or night. He was also a respected mentor, seeing the training of junior doctors as a priority.
In 1991 he took early retirement following the closure of
Roodlands A&E and the ongoing centralisation of acute services. But he continued as duty doctor at Kelso Races and horse driving events, most notably having a close shave with the Duke of Edinburgh at Floors Castle when the Duke’s carriage had an accident at the water hazard. Retirement afforded him more time for travelling and he made numerous trekking trips to Nepal, visited Patagonia, Russia, Moroccoandethiopiaandfulfilledhis passion for polar exploration with a visit to Antarctica. New Zealand and Australia were favourite destinations and he and Fiona camped around NZ five years ago. Among his other interests were history, cars and sewing, his nimble fingers producing patchwork quilts and panelsonthegreatscottishand Scottish Diaspora tapestries.
Thecouplemovedtocrichton near Pathhead in 1999, where he loved his role as church beadle and was property convenor for the Tyne Valley Parish. He had always been sustained by a deepfaithand,overthelastyear, kept on the wall a saying from St David that exemplified his approach to life: Be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things.
He is survived by Fiona, children Kirsty, Stewart and Annabel, and six grandchildren.