‘Father of remote healthcare’ had a taste for adventure

Pioneer of remote healthcare, Antarctic adventurer, grandfather, husband, dad and medic, Aberdeen professor John Nelson Norman has died aged 90.

John Nelson Norman, always known as Nelson, was born in Paisley in May 1932. His father, Alexander Mackinnon Norman, was a customs officer and his mother, Winnifred, looked after Nelson and his younger sister, Margaret.

Nelson’s first memories were of life in Campbeltown where his father worked auditing the local distilleries.

They returned to Paisley in 1938 where Nelson attended Paisley Grammar School. He excelled in English and history and met his lifelong friend, David Campbell.

In 1945, age 13, Nelson spent seven weeks in hospital due to appendicitis. Perhaps due to how much he revered his surgeon, Nelson followed a path towards medicine and qualified in 1957.

Following on from a hospital residency, he and David completed two years’ National Service in the Army as medical officers.

During his service an opportunity arose for volunteers to travel to the Falkland Islands Dependency. Nelson signed up but soon discovered that Falkland Islands Dependency actually meant Antarctica.

Undaunted, he set sail and chronicled the yearlong trip in a book he wrote and published in 2009, In Search of a Penguin’s Egg.

In recognition of this expedition he received the Polar Medal from the Queen.

After returning from the Antarctic, Nelson continued his research at the Medical Research Council in London.

A year later he moved to Glasgow as a research fellow to Sir Charles Illingworth, under the guidance of George Smith.

The research in Glasgow focused on the use of hyperbaric oxygen in medicine. The findings would later form the subject matter of Nelson’s PhD thesis.

Nelson became great friends with his Glasgow colleague Iain Ledingham.

They shared accommodation and their scientific collaboration continued over many years, including a period in the 1990s when they both lived and worked in the United Arab Emirates.

In 1963, Iain and his fiancée, Eileen, were

preparing for their upcoming wedding. Nelson fell for Eileen’s elder sister, Morag.

By the time the newlyweds set off on honeymoon, Nelson and Morag had fallen in love.

Nelson and Morag married in Glasgow University Chapel in July 1964.

Later that year, after George Smith was invited to take up the position of Regius Chair at Aberdeen University, Nelson followed him to Aberdeen as a lecturer in surgical science, and he began surgical training.

The new Mr and Mrs Norman set up home in Airyhall. In December 1967, their daughter Sarah-Jane was born.

Nelson became a fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Over the next few years he was active in academic surgery, supervising young surgeons.

In the 1970s, the Norman family moved to Cairnlee Park in Bieldside where they formed lifelong friendships with their neighbours. It was around the same time oil and gas exploration in the North Sea increased.

Nelson quickly immersed himself in various areas of medicine including saturation diving, surviving in extreme cold, to providing medical attention in an offshore setting.

He established the Institute of Environmental and Offshore Medicine at Aberdeen University and by 1976, the university had appointed Nelson chairman of environmental medicine.

Over the following years Nelson was at the forefront of many advances in medical support in the offshore industry.

He was also at the heart of efforts to establish remote healthcare organisations, and the formation of a research facility on Mount Morrone, near Braemar.

Nelson and his family moved from Bieldside to Newhills House in the early 1980s and holidayed on Menorca where they owned a villa.

He also switched from Aberdeen University to Robert Gordon Institute of Technology (RGIT), establishing the Centre for Offshore Health at Kepplestone Mansion.

The system of medicine pioneered by Nelson during his time at the university and RGIT was introduced to the British Antarctic Survey.

Nelson established the

British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit based in Aberdeen and became its first director.

In 1994, Nelson took up the position of professor of community medicine in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

After five years, he and Morag returned to Aberdeen where Nelson continued his work on remote healthcare.

Alongside Alan Bolam, the Institute for Remote Healthcare was born and for 10 years they regularly travelled to various countries as its directors.

Nelson received a lifetime achievement for his work as “the father of remote healthcare” in 2015.

He spent his later years with Morag at Rubislaw Park Road. They shared 57 years together before Morag died last November.

WELL TRAVELLED: Prof John Nelson Norman chronicled his time in Antarctica.

Nelson received the Polar Medal from Queen Elizabeth.