Michael Sanders: neuro-ophthalmologist who diagnosed Jane Austen’s cause of death

bmj;379/oct07_9/o2412/FAF1faBorn in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, where his parents ran a tea plantation, Michael David Sanders enjoyed a happy childhood. In 1942 he travelled to safety in South Africa with his mother and brother. He returned to Sri Lanka after the second world war, before coming to England to prep school at Perrott Hill, Somerset, where he excelled at sports as well as academic subjects. He then attended Tonbridge School in Kent.At 18 he joined Guy’s Hospital as a medical student, where his interest in ophthalmology was sparked by winning the Charles Oldham eyes prize. After his house jobs he joined P&O as an assistant surgeon on SS Strathmore and visited his parents in Sri Lanka, sailing to and from Australia. This voyage introduced him to surgery: he was called on to carry out a delicate operation to repair three tendons in the hand of a sailor who had been…
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