Gordon Jackson Rees, known to colleagues and friends as
Jack, was an anaesthesiologist who gained worldwide recognition as a pioneer in
paediatric anaesthesia.
Born in Oswestry on 8th December 1918 he studied
medicine at Liverpool University, qualifying in 1942 and serving as a medical
officer in the RAF. After the war he took a course in anaesthetics at Oxford
before returning to Liverpool to work at the Royal Southern Hospital. It was
there that he worked with Thomas Cecil Gray on the development of the ‘Liverpool
Technique’ which combined neuromuscular blocking drugs with light general
anaesthesia. He was persuaded by a surgeon at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Isabella
Forshaw, to develop anaesthesia for children. At that time surgery on children
had to be performed rapidly as they did badly after prolonged anaesthetics. His
application of the Liverpool Technique allowed surgeons to take as long as they
needed to carry out increasingly complex procedures.
His ground-breaking work brought him recognition across the
globe. He received many awards and honours and was the first President of the European
Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists.
He married Betty Schofield in 1943 and they had four children,
one son, Andrew, becoming Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of
Aberdeen. His nephew, Martin Rees, became Astronomer Royal in 1995.
Just after the war Jack Rees was living at 5 Huskisson
Street L8, then at 13 Croxteth Grove L8. He lived for a number of years at 9A
Fulwood Park L17.
