Life on the Edge

The highest echelons of civilised society, for example the law and medicine are governed by orthodox practice. But from time to time a mutant gene will spawn an unorthodox practitioner, often leading to all sorts of carnage, but also occasionally to an inspiring and fascinating life.

Sam Ramsay Smith's unorthodox career started as a choral scholar in Ely Cathedral. After leaving school in 1964 he spent a year doing Voluntary Service Overseas in West Africa. His early adventures there engendered his enduring attraction to Africa. By the time he started at Liverpool Medical School in 1965 Sam had already performed surgical operations in the Cameroun rain forest and done ward rounds with Dr Albert Schweitzer at Lambaréné in Gabon.

In between his medical and surgical studies Sam went to war in Biafra, became a flying surgeon in Kenya, and later the physician and surgeon to the king of the Bakuba tribe in The Congo. Sam later developed and ran a hospital in Lesotho during the apartheid era.

After three years as war surgeon and trainer with Médecins Sans Frontières in the Ivory Coast and Sri Lanka he finally retired to an ancient stable in Andalucia in 2008.

I have known Sam for many years. He has always been a kind and enterprising person, never influenced by what others think, but rather what he believes is right, whether it be conventional or not. The book that he has written encompasses his character, and makes a very interesting read.

Professor Douglas Chamberlain, CBE.MD.FRCP

Often funny, sometimes tragic, always interesting. Sam's unorthodox approach to medicine has melded a career as a travelling surgeon from Sussex to the heart of Africa, with a life of fun, music and stimulating escapades, latterly as a war surgeon with Médecins Sans Frontières. A very rewarding read.

Dr Ian Calder, FRCA.

This is the compelling and highly entertaining story of the life of a surgeon. He is a man with a passion for life and for his profession, and a man with great compassion for his patients.

Professor Averil Mansfield, CBE, MS.FRCS