Public health Hay’s legacy
To pigeonhole the career of Sir David Hay into any one field would be to underestimate the fullness of his life.
A career cardiologist and ardent anti-smoking advocate, Hay’s legacy will live on in the health of all New Zealanders.
‘‘He was an absolutely dedicated physician, but more than that he wanted to do research to benefit the nation,’’ daughter Natasha Hay said.
His twin brother was Sir Hamish Hay, mayor of Christchurch from 1974 to 1989 and the city’s longest-serving mayor.
For more than 30 years, David Hay worked at Christchurch’s Princess Margaret Hospital. It was during this time he helped found the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand, becoming the organisation’s first medical director.
In August, Hay was diagnosed with lung cancer, the irony of such a diagnosis not lost on a man who spent his life battling big tobacco.
‘‘He didn’t want anything, he didn’t want any treatment,’’ Natasha Hay said.
‘‘I think he had made the decision that he was ready to die.’’
He died on December 3, aged 88. A service at the new St Andrew’s College Centennial Chapel was well attended.
Hay was born in Christchurch on December 8, 1927, one of four children. His father was philanthropist Sir James Hay.
He attended St Andrew’s College before studying medicine at the University of Otago, graduating in 1951. During his time in Dunedin, he met Jocelyn Bell, a fellow medicine student. The pair married at St Andrew’s College chapel in 1958 and had two children – Nicola in 1960 and Natasha in 1961. In the early 1950s, Hay spent a few years in Britain, where he was inspired by the ground-breaking work of epidemiologist Sir Richard Doll, showing the health risks of smoking, an otherwise innocuous activity at the time.
He returned to New Zealand in 1955, determined the country must quit smoking.
For years, he was at the global forefront of tobacco control at a time when marketing from large tobacco companies was prominent.
‘‘I remember when I was at university, I was a little embarrassed you know, him being so anti smoking, but of course I’m very proud now,’’ Natasha said.
Frequent anonymous phone calls to the family home, with nothing but heavy breathing on the line or people asking, ‘‘Is Philip Morris there?’’, showed he was making an impact.
‘‘It was horrible really, I remember being quite scared,’’ Natasha Hay said.
In 1968, together with a small group of cardiologists and business people, Hay founded the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand, becoming their first medical director in 1977.
In 1981, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and knighted in 1991, nine years after brother Hamish received the same honour.
In 1995, he received a World Health Organisation medal for his advocacy of smokefree issues and legislation in New Zealand and overseas.
‘‘He didn’t have a big social life, in fact medicine and family were his life,’’ Natasha Hay said.