Alastair MacKendrick obituary: ENT surgeon pushed to improve remote ear health

Alastair, or Al as he was known, lived with tremendous enthusiasm and energy in all aspects of his personal and professional life. His love for his family, singing in a choir, cars, boats, golf and, in his later years, his farm in Jarrahdale was infectious and one couldn’t help but get caught up in his waves of passion and delight. And his parties were legendary — Al loved to dance and his moves on the dance floor were amazing to view, especially if there was an ebullient African band supplying the music! But there was a serious side to Al as well. He worked diligently in his chosen specialty as a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at Fremantle Hospital, and Peel and Rockingham hospitals as well as in private practice. In 1987 Alastair, noting the dearth of ENT services to the Kimberley region, took on the role of clinical lead in ENT for the WA Country Health Service, a vocation which he fulfilled with distinction for some 25 years until 2012. Over that time he co-authored the Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Ear Health Manual and conducted research into myringoplasty, or repair of the chronic perforations of eardrums that are so common in Aboriginal children in rural and remote Western Australia. His seminal article detailing this work was published in the Australian Journal of Otolaryngology and showed, for the first time, the benefits of early myringoplasty and the high incidence of serious cholesteatoma complications in Aboriginal children. His masterstroke was to convince the teaching hospital department heads in Perth to let their registrars travel to the Kimberley with him, providing them with valuable ear surgery experiences. Where else could they do four or five myringoplasties in a day? Many of the younger colleagues in the profession have benefited from Alistair’s teaching of ear surgery techniques on these regional visits. Al was born in Que Que (now Kwekwe), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1947 to Sylvia Mary Harris and Douglas Joffre Mackendrick. With his siblings Malcolm and Marilyn, he boarded at Chaplin High School before going on to study medicine at University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Following his graduation he met and married Jennifer Andrew in 1971 and they had their first son, Andrew, in 1972. Al moved to Australia in 1975, working in Tasmania and Queensland before joining the ear, nose and throat training program in Perth. He became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1982. Another son, Richard, was born in 1976 in Brisbane. Al and Jennifer parted subsequently. Al met Pamela Gabriels, who became the love of his life, at what was then the Repatriation General Hospital Hollywood in the 1980s. They married in 1991 and had a wonderfully successful 33 years of marriage. Pam’s children, Gemma and Caslin, became an intrinsic part of Al’s family and, along with Andrew and Richard, formed a closely knit family. Sadly, Richard was killed in a car crash in 2005. The other children have gone on to marry and added nine much-loved grandchildren, all of whom were deeply loved by Al. Al’s good friend, Mike Owen, remembers with great fondness halcyon days on Al’s stately and classic vintage timber motoryacht, Solitude. He also remembers Al’s superb but impractical E-Type Jaguar and his questionable selection of a Russian Lada Niva. For his services setting up the WorkCover WA legislation for protection of workers against workplace noise and compensation for workers with industrial noise-induced hearing loss, Alastair was awarded a Centenary Medal. In 2013 Alastair was awarded the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery’s Society Medal for distinguished contribution to the art and science of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery. In 2014 at the Queen’s Birthday honours, Alastair was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to medicine and community health in rural and remote areas for his lifetime work. In addition to all these professional attributes, Alastair was a kind and caring doctor, a devoted husband, father and grandfather, a good and generous friend to many, a friend of audiology, an enthusiastic farmer and keen golfer with a great sense of humour and a joie de vivre unparalleled. In his final years, Alastair was no longer performing surgery and was working part-time giving medical advice for the legal cases of patients who had ear, nose or throat injuries from accidents at work or outside their workplace. Alastair was enjoying his work and spending time with family and friends, while also keeping busy on his hobby farm. His death was sudden and unexpected. Alastair died in his sleep on December 29, 2024. We will miss him keenly. Vale Al. Alastair Mackendrick OAM Ear, nose and throat surgeon Born: Que Que, Southern Rhodesia, 1947 Died: Perth, aged 77