Doctor lived life to the absolute fullest
MACK HOLMES was a wellknown and respected Dunedin anaesthetist.
Dr Holmes contributed significantly to Dunedin Hospital throughout his long tenure there. His input to the advancement of the hospital and the wider medical community included introduction of the two separate techniques to increase the safety of operating theatres.
He also helped create the cardiac operating theatre and postoperative cardiac care unit of the South Island’s thenonly cardiac surgical unit in Dunedin 1972, and he was one of the first anaesthetists undertaking anaesthesia for cardiac surgery.
Charles McKinnon Holmes was born in north Dunedin on June 11, 1935, the eldest of three sons.
After some time in the United Kingdom during which he attended Harrow School, he returned to Dunedin in 1948, to complete his education at Otago Boys’ High School, before entering Otago Medical School in 1952.
Dr Holmes graduated in medicine in 1958 and married Janet Sinclair in December that year. He started his anaesthetic training in 1961 and was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to continue postgraduate studies in anaesthesia in Oxford.
While at Oxford, he reintroduced a longoverlooked anaesthetic technique known as “Bier’s block”. He effectively reinvented the procedure with newer, safer local anaesthetic drugs, as a very simple method widely used today throughout the world to provide anaesthesia for hand and arm procedures.
His landmark paper in the celebrated Lancet medical journal in 1963 is still cited today in professional research and made Dr Holmes’ professional reputation at a very early point in his career.
He returned to Dunedin in 1965 to a position as specialist anaesthetist in Dunedin Hospital and lecturer in anaesthesia at the Otago Medical School.
Dr Holmes’ regular attendance at New Zealand and overseas anaesthetic meetings, and his popularity as a speaker, soon led to an appreciation of his innovative and discerning mind, and meant that his audience was always assured of being both educated and entertained. His repertoire of humorous anecdotes was legendary. He authored or coauthored 30 papers, had terms as chairman of the New Zealand committee of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and trained, taught and mentored numerous doctors in New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia as they embarked upon their own anaesthetics careers.
DR HOLMES had a constant thirst for life and knowledge, along with a love for languages. His love of life included constantly exploring the Otago hinterland with his family, be it to Hindon, Middlemarch, or further afield, as he celebrated his passion for the province, and built an encyclopedic knowledge of places longforgotten like Styx, Patearoa, and the Serpentine Church.
He relished tramping the hills and valleys, and also enjoyed the rich history of the countryside. He would often head off, “just to see what’s there”. Well into his 70s, he would still hike off to the Pineapple Track, over Swampy Summit and beyond.
His love of the outdoors was fed in other ways — he was an enthusiastic amateur sailor, and his interest in aviation while at medical school (which led to him obtaining a licence for gliders) was rekindled after retirement, when he became a private pilot, culminating in the Otago Aero Club awarding him a life membership.
His love of flying, and his interest in people, gave him a rich life, When, in the 1990s, he flew on Concorde, the pilots sensed a kindred spirit and he was allowed to sit in the ‘‘jumpseat’’ at the back of the cockpit during landing. He filmed it all on his video camera, until the moment the nose was lowered for landing, at which point he was so engrossed in watching it he dropped the camera, which filmed the cabin floor.
Dr Holmes’ first wife Janet had died suddenly in 1978, leaving him to raise his four boys singlehandedly. He handled that task with the same patience and care his colleagues had so appreciated in the operating theatre, showing great understanding in the face of the usual trials of teenage boys.
He was blessed to meet another amazing woman, marrying Lyn in 1981 and sharing nearly 40 years with her and daughter Kara.
He retired from his Dunedin Hospital position in 1992 to enter fulltime private practice. Following retirement from anaesthetic practice in 2007, he continued for a time working as a medical officer, doing locums in some of southern New Zealand’s provincial hospitals.
In his complete retirement, there was plenty to keep him occupied, as he became a volunteer on the Taieri Gorge railway and also at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum.
His museum colleagues remember someone who was always happy to help, whether it meant getting his hands dirty working with fuel oil or cleaning boiler tubes, helping set up and operate the steam calliope, or studying to obtain his steam boiler ticket. They appreciated his happy smile and willingness to greet visitors, recounting the history of the museum, and explaining the mechanical processes involved in the Gasworks’ production of town gas.
Dr Holmes never lost his love of travel, and enjoyed his retirement with Lyn, as they travelled throughout Europe and Asia, sailing with friends in the Mediterranean and Greek islands and in Tahiti.
He qualified as a scuba diver, and related with glee an experience at the Mole at Aramoana, when he felt a tugging on his flipper. Thinking it was a fellow diver, he turned to find a friendly seal looking to see if flippers were edible.
Professionally, Dr Holmes will be remembered by his colleagues as a talented, dedicated anaesthetist who took a strong and active interest in educating people and mentoring them for their future roles.
That same love of education showed in all aspects of his life — whether it was the Gasworks Museum, the Aero Club, or the extended family, he never lost his inquisitive side, nor did he lose his love of Otago in all its richness. Many have commented that he lived life to the full and loved the warmth and friendship of those around him.
Dr Holmes died peacefully in Dunedin Hospital on March 26.
He is sadly missed by friends, colleagues, and family alike. He is survived by wife Lyn, his five children and six grandchildren.
— Supplied