Several of Sir John’s colleagues were interviewed for an exhibition installed at Wrightington Hospital in 2012. The exhibition marked his unique contribution to orthopaedic surgery and was open for four years.
The interviews below feature Chris Faux, Maureen Abraham, Dr Hugh Howorth and Harry Craven.
Chris Faux
Chris is a member of the John Charnley Trust. He trained at Liverpool Medical School and first worked with Sir John in 1974.
As a former Wrightington Registrar and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Chris remembers the strong impression Sir John made on him.
Maureen Abraham
Working as a Scrub Nurse, Maureen assisted Sir John with the instrumentation for the operation, ensuring that it was sterile and well maintained.
Maureen remembers the high standards Sir John Charnley insisted people worked to and his career-long quest to improve every part of the surgical process.
Dr Hugh Howorth
A successful businessman, Hugh worked with Sir John Charnley in designing the clean air operating theatre and body exhaust system and manufactured the components.
Hugh recalls discussing the task of developing the clean air operating theatre and comparing it with “modelmaking”. He died in July 2004, the Charnley-Howorth Unit having been long adopted thoughout the world.
Harry Craven
Harry was fresh from working at the Metal Box Company when he was appointed by John Charnley in the late 1950s.
Harry began his new career making hip prostheses from the attic of Charnley’s home. His full duties later involved making cups and finishing femoral prostheses, making surgical instrument prototypes, and building test equipment and testing artificial materials.
All interviews were conducted by Dr Francis Neary.
